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THE IROQUOIS 

A HISTORY OF THE SIX NATIONS 
OF NEW YORK 



V 



BY 



w. C? KIMM, A. M., Ph. D. 

SUPERVISING PEINCIPAL OF THE MIDDLEBURGII SCHOOLS 
MIDDLEBUIIGII, N. Y. 



'•It was the foe, fierre, brave and strong, 

Who for your homes contending stood, 

That brought the need whicli wrought ere lon< 

Your mighty league of brotherhood. 

And though it only lives in name, 

Or on the bold historic page, 

O keep its bright, proud hero-fame 

Unsullied still from age to age." 

Hathaway. 



-O ; — ■ 



MIDDLEBURGH, N. Y. 

PRESS OF PIERRE W. DANFORTH 



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INTRODUCTION 

The author's object in presenting to the public this 
short History of the Six Nations is to place in com- 
plete form the material, gathered here and there, often 
from sources not available to the general reader, nec- 
essary to an understanding of the lives and motives of 
the people who composed that powerful confederacy 
which controlled for many years the polity of all the 
tribes living in the limits of what is now the North 
Central States of our country. Statesmen by nature, 
and conquerors by practice, they were well named the 
' 'Romans of the West." And although they stood as 
a strong bulwark between the French and Dutch, and 
later between the French and English and thus were 
largely influential in preserving their hunting grounds 
for^he Anglo-Saxon race, yet slight mention is made 
of them in our school histories, and little opportunity 
is given our boys and girls to learn what an important 
part they played in the early history of our colonial 
and national life. Had they thrown their influence 
on the side of the French there is every reason to be- 
lieve that this country, which to-day offers the great- 
est opportunities for the development of the human 
race would not be under the rule of the descendants 
of the liberty loving Teutons. If this little volume 
should serve in some small degree to keep green the 
memory of an unfortunate people, who seemed by na- 
ture destined for greater things, then its mission will 
have been accomplished. 



vi , INTRODUCTION 

The author wishes to take this opportunity to thauk 
the Rev. George Hardy, of Sauquoit, N. Y., for his 
timely article on the Oneida Indians, and to Hon. G. 
Iv. Danforth, A. M., Hon. J. Edward Young, Mr. 
John Mallery and others for access to their excellent 
private libraries. 



REFERENCES 

McMaster's United States History. 

Parkman's Historical Works. 

Robert's New York State History. 

Fisk's Discovery of America. 

New York Civil List. 

Beauchamp's New York State Museum. 

The Annals of America. 

Smith's History of New York. 

Morgan's League of the Iroquois. 

Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois. 

The Iroquois, by Minnie Myrtle. 

Documentary History of New York. 

Simm's Border Warfare. 

Dr. Colden's History of the Five Nations. 

Stone's Life of Brant. 

Campbell's Border Wars of New York. 

Lossing's Empire State. 



THE IROQUOIS 



CHAPTER I 

THE SIX NATIONS 

Thk first European who touched American shores 
found here a race of human beings unlike an}' that he 
had ever come in contact with before. On the shores 
of the stormy Atlantic, the smiling Pacific, in the 
frozen North, beneath the scorching rays of the torrid 
sun, and on the snow clad peaks of the mighty Andes, 
w^ere found the same race, characterized by copper col- 
ored complexion, high cheek bones, straight black 
hair, and small deep set eyes. Whence came this race 
covering such a vast territory, and ranging in culture 
from the lowest grade of savagery up to the highest 
grade of barbarism ? It is not the province of this pa- 
per to discuss the origin of man, nor to attempt to 
prove either that Adam was the ancestor of the human 
family, or, as many scientists think, that man appear- 
ed in various parts of the earth contemporaneous with 
the biWical Adam. Before men took up the study of 
Geology it was supposed that there had been no great 
changes in the form 'of the land masses of the earth, 
and so the relations of the continents of America and 
Asia had remained the same since the advent of man. 
Because Europeans had never come in contact with 
such a race before, they concluded that in some remote 
age he must have come from Asia or some Asiatic is- 
lands, and so many theories have been advanced show- 
ing how they first reached these shores. Bancroft, 
speaking of their origin and consanguinity, says, 
•'Schoolmen and scientists count their theories by the 



8 THE IROQITOIS 

hundreds, each sustaining some pet conjecture with a 
logical clearness equalled only by the facility with 
which he demolishes all the rest. One proves their 
origin by Holy writ, another by the sage sayings of 
the fathers. One discovers in them Phoenician mer- 
chants, another the ten lost tribes of Israel. They are 
tracked with equal certainty from Scandinavia, from 
Ireland, from Iceland, from Greenland, across Behring 
Strait, across the Northern Pacific, the Southern Pa- 
cific, from the Polynesian Islands, from Australia, 
from Africa. Venturesome Carthagenians were thrown 
upon the eastern shore, Japanese junks on the western. 
The breezes that wafted hither America's primogeni- 
tors are still blowing, and the ocean currents by which 
they came cease not yet to flow. The fineh' spun 
webs of logic by which these fancies are maintained 
would prove amusing did not the profound earnestness- 
of their respective advocate? render them ridiculous. ' ' 

The more we study the American Indian, from the 
light of geology and ethnological histor}^ the more we 
are of the opinion that the Autochthonic theory of the 
origin of our aborigines is the most in accord with re- 
cent discoveries and consequently the most satisfactory 
of acceptance. In the first place had he emigrated 
from Asia he vrould have had the same blood in his 
veins that coursed through the veins of those Asiatics 
who founded the Ancient Eastern Civilizations. If 
such were the case, how was it that he remained in a 
state of primeval savagery so many centuries while his 
brethern were developing such a high state of civiliza- 
tion in the parent country ? Blood will tell ! With 
all the natural advantages which the American conti- 
nent offers, scarceh' equaled anywhere in the world, 
one would expect as rapid development in civilization 
on the American continent as in Asia. But such was- 
not the case. Nowhere has there ever been discovered. 



THE SIX NATIONS ;T 

any remains that showed much knowledge of art or 
science. People who had intelligence enough to con- 
struct ships or other means of transporting themselves 
across so great distances would have had intelligence 
enough to have preserved some memorial of so great. 
an event. But proofs of such are entirely wanting.. 
Their traditions and myths go back to their creation, 
and yet it is to be strongly questioned whether there 
is much similarity between them and those of Eastern- 
continents — enough to even partiall}^ prove a common 
origin. The fact that they had many social customs,, 
habits and religious rites similar to other people's in tv. 
savage state proves nothing beyond the fact that all 
men in the same plane of savagery and barbarism have- 
exhibited the same mental, moral and physical traits. 

Whatever theory may be adopted as to their origin, 
or w^hatever birth place may be assigned them, this 
one thing all men are agreed upon, the American abo- 
rigines have occupied this continent during a much 
greater period than was formerly thought. Tradi- 
tions, earth mounds, moral and physical peculiarities 
prove this. And 3'et when we contemplate that each 
successive age has left no more track upon the waste 
of time than a ship leaves in crossing the ever chang- 
ing deep there is seen something of the difficulties to 
be overcome in arriving at some definite knowledge 
concerning the primitive Indian. Bryant says in his 
noble poem, "Thanatopsis," "All that tread the globe, 
are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its 
bosom." Science is coming to our aid and the hand 
of genius may yet gradually lead us back through at 
least part of the long, dark, silent past into the realm 
of the primeval Indian where ma}^ be revealed to us 
his early, physical characteristics. 

Researches during the last fifty years have already 
thrown much light on the ethnology of the American 



10 THE IROQUOIS 

savage. Shell mounds of great antiquity have been 
found on the banks of the St. John's, Alabama, and 
Mississippi Rivers, and in many other localities. The 
glacial period was the most characteristic of the Pleio- 
cene age which occurred certainly more than 50,000 
years ago. Traces of the existence of human beings 
in North America during the glacial period have been 
found in abundance. Quartzite implements have been 
found in the drift near the city of St. Paul. A part of 
a human jaw was discovered in a deposit of red clay 
belonging to the early part of the glacial period. 
Over sixty implements, three human skulls and other 
bones were found securely imbedded in the Trenton 
gravel. Discoveries by Prof. Winchell show that in 
all probability all the continent from the Atlantic to 
the Mississippi river was inhabited by this race during 
the great ice age. In 1866 a human skull was dis- 
covered in the gold bearing gravels of the Pleiocene 
age. This discovery has called forth many heated 
arguments and learned disquisitions from scientific 
men. What makes the discovery so interesting is the 
fact that the fossil remains of two apes most nearly 
like man in physical structure were found in the Up- 
per Miocene. By the agitation one would think that 
these learned men are afraid that Darwin's "Missing 
Link" may yet be found. 

In entering upon the study of the people found up- 
on this continent by Europeans that which strikes us 
most forcibly is the great number of languages spoken 
by the different tribes. Squier put the number at 400 
w^hile Ludewig claimed there were 1,100. These 
languages were divided into several thousand dialects. 
This proves that there was a sparse population con- 
sisting of many scattered tribes. About the eleventh 
or twelfth century there existed east of the Mississippi 
River three great families. One of these, the Algon- 



THE SIX NATIONS Jl 

quins, occupied all that region east of the Great Lakes 
as far north as Hudson's Bay and east to Labrador. 
This family was divided into many tribes the names of 
which frequently occur in the writings of the colonists, 
and novelists, like Cooper. About the thirteenth or 
fourteenth century an offshoot of the great Dakota 
family known in history as the Huron-Iroquois family 
seem to have moved eastward, something as did the 
hordes from the great German forests in early Euro- 
pean history. They, like the Teutons, were the most 
hardy and aggressive men on the continent. Tho' 
numbering far less than their neighbors they pushed 
their way eastward to Niagara where they separated, 
part working their way up the St. Lawrence and an- 
other part going down the Susquehanna. The Hu- 
rons settled in the peninsula between the Great 
Lakes. Another part afterward known as "The Neu- 
tral Nation" settled near Lake Erie. The Susquehan- 
nocks, in the -fertile valley of a great river which is 
called after them to-day, while the Tuscaroras went as 
far south as North Carolina. The group which moved 
along the north bank of the St. Lawrence were per- 
haps the most hardy and the most intelligent and im- 
portant of all the aborigines north of the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. Cortes in 1536 found one of their villages 
"beautiful for situation" on the present site of Mon- 
treal. But they seem to have been driven out by the 
vastly greater numbers of the Algonquins, for several 
3'ears later when Champlain visited the country the 
beautiful Iroquois village had vanished. Doubtless 
the larger part of them moved across the river and 
lake to a locality near the present site of Oswego, 
where the three small but fearless tribes of the Iroquois 
established themselves. At first they consisted of the 
Senecas, Mohawks and Onondagas, but afterward two 
of these tribes became divided forming two additional 



12 THE IROQUOIS 

tribes, viz., the Cayugas and Oneidas. Just when 
these five tribes united to form that great "Barbaric 
Republic" which played such an interesting part in 
the intercolonial wars, is not certainly known, but it 
must have occurred previous to the discovery of Amer- 
ica by Columbus. 



CHAPTER II 

THEIR LKGENDARY ORIGIN 

The Iroquois have a very pretty legend relating to 
their origin and final union into a confederacy. A 
^reat many years ago they were confined under a 
mountain near the falls of the Oswego from where 
they were led by the "Holder of the Heavens" into 
the beautiful Mohawk ralley, along which and farther 
westward they settled, each tribe in a different lo^cality. 
About this time the sixth tribe, known as the Tuscy- 
roras, left and moved toward where the birds fly in 
winter. The remaining five tribes kept up a continu- 
al warfare with one another. After a time a fierce 
and warlike tribe came from the home of the north 
wind and falling upon the Onondagas nearly exter- 
minated them. This threw the Iroquois tribes into 
the greatest consternation. Unless they could over- 
come^i he.se northern barbarians their v.diole nation 
would perish. In their great distress they called upon 
the "Holder of the Heavens," affectionately called by 
the people Hi-a-wat-ha "The Very VJise Man." The 
Iroquois were his dearest children so they followed his 
advice at all times. Hi-a-wat-ha told them to c:A\ 
representatives from all the tribes to a great council to 
be held on the banks of Onondaga Lake. The great 
council fire blazed for three days and yet no Hi-a-wat- 
ha appeared to help or to advise. At length guided 
by the Great Spirit he was seen coming across the lake 
in a white canoe bearing with him his beautiful little 
daughter. Scarcely had they landed upon the shore 
whe^ii there suddenly arose a mighty wind and an im- 



14 THE IROQUOIS 

mense bird so large as to darken the landscape swoop- 
ed down upon the beautiful girl and crushed her into 
the earth. Speechless with grief Hi-a-wat-ha mourned 
for his daughter three days. Then he said, "I will 
meet you to-morrow and unfold to you my plans." 
On the following day he arose in the council and spoke 
as fellows : 

"Brothers; you have come here from a great dis- 
tance to provide safety for yourselves and your homes. 
How should it be done ? We can make no progress 
by opposing these tribes from the cold north singly. 
We must unite all our tribes into one band of brothers. 
In that way we shall be able to keep our enemies from 
our land." 

"You, the Mohawks, sitting under the shadow of the 
'Great Tree,' whose roots sink deep into the earth, 
and whose branches spread over a vast country, shall 
be the first nation, because you are warlike and 
mighty." 

"And you, Oneidas, a people who recline your bod- 
ies agairiSt the 'Everlasting Stone,' that cannot be 
moved, shall be the second nation, because you give 
wuse counsel." 

"And you, Onondagas, who have your habitation 
at the 'Great Mountain' and are overshadowed by its 
crags, shall be the third nation, because you are gifted 
in speech, and are mighty in war." 

"And you, Cayugas, whose habitation is the 'Dark 
Forest,' and Vvdiose home is everywhere, shall be the 
fourth nation, because of your superior cunning in 
hunting." 

"And you, Senecas, a people who live in the 'Open 
Country,' and possess much wisdom, shall be the fifth 
nation, because you understand better the art of rais- 
ing corn and beans, and making cabins." 

"You, five great and powerful nations, must unite 



THEIR LEGENDARY ORIGIN 15 

and have but one common interest, and no foe shall 
be able to disturb or subdue 3'ou. If we unite, the 
Great Spirit will smile upon us. Brothers, these are 
the words of Hi-a-wat-ha; let them sink deep into your 
hearts. Admit no other nations, and you will always 
be free, numerous and happy. If other tribes and na- 
tions are admitted to your councils they will sow the 
seeds of jealousy and discord, and you will become 
few, feeble and enslaved. Remember these words. 
They are the last 3'ou will hear from Hi-a-wat-ha. 
The Great Master of Breath calls me to go. I have 
patiently awaited his summons. I am ready to go. 
Farewell !" 

The legend ttUs us that when the good Hi-a-wat-ha 
finished his speech the air was filled with the sweetest 
music. The beautiful white canoe lose .<- lowly into the 
air, and it bore their good friend and wise councillor 
far into the eternal blue. The music slowly died away 
and the dusky savages were left 10 try the experiment 
of becoming a confederated nation. 



CHAPTER III 

THEIR NAMK AND I^OCATlON 

Thky proudl}' called themselves Ongwe-Hoavve, 
"Men all surpassing others," and it has been said that 
"They were the proudest representatives of natural 
manhood ever discovered." Strange as it may seem 
the white men who carried on negotiations with these 
sons of the forest received a diplomatic training that 
enabled them to place New York in a position among 
the colonies far beyond that to which her size entitled 
her. The Iroquois designated themselves as Ho-de- 
no-san-nee, "A people dwelling in a long house." 
According to another writer, they called their confed- 
eracy Ko-no-shi-oni — the "Long House." Their ter- 
ritory seems to have extended from that occupied by 
the "Neutrals" near Lake Erie up to and even beyond 
the Hudson River. The Senecas were placed in the 
western part of their territories as a defence against 
the fierce, western tribes. Afterw^ard the Iroquois ex- 
tended their conquest as far as the Mississippi river, 
and "it was solely on this conquest that the English 
based their claims to that territory as against the 
French at the opening of the French and Indian war, 
and it was in this way that New York came into pos- 
session of that vast section which she gave to the 
United states from which were carved Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan and Wiscoiishi." For this alone 
both our state and national governments owe a great 
debt to this barbaric republic. 

The eastern gate of their territory was kept by the 
Mohawks, in many respects the ablest warriors among 



THEIR XAME AND LOCATION 17 

all the aborigines of America. Near I^ake Onondaga 
where Hi-a-wat-ha appeared to them in his beautiful 
canoe they kept their great council fire, the capital of 
the confederacy. It was the duty of the Onondagas to 
guard this fire, the general meeting place of the nation. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE IROQUOIS 

Classical students are apt to look to foreign lands as 
the birth place of political institutions. Long before 
Europeans had set foot upon these shores, the Iroquois 
had marked out a form of government "of the whole, 
by the whole, for the benefit of the whole," almost a 
prototype of that great government which followed it, 
— the best, and freest the world has ever seen. Re- 
membering that this people had not yet developed be- 
yond the barbaric stage, we are astonished to find so 
much in their form of government of what w^e are 
wont to expect only in the highest civilization. They 
were surrounded by tribes not advanced beyond the high- 
est stages of savagery or the first stages of barbarism. 
They had never come in contact with people as intelli- 
gent as themselves. The refining influences of Chris- 
tianity had never penetrated their strongholds, and 
they had no universities greater than the studies of 
nature and their simple lives. How did it happen 
that there was such a striking resemblance between 
their clan and tribal governments and that of our old 
Teutonic ancestors back in the German forests nearly 
2000 years before ? Why had the}^ the spirit of the old 
Greek Amphictyonic Council ? Our answer is this : 
Like needs have brought about like conditions of so- 
ciety in various ages in widely separated parts of the 
earth. When first discovered the Iroquois were fast 
conquering or at least gaining an influence over all the 
surrounding tribes. Their plan was largely one of ex- 
termination and adoption rather than of conquest. If 
they spared a tribe it was to levy tribute, and woe to 



TirlE GOVERNMENT OF THE IROQUOIS 19 

that tribe if it refused to acknowledge their sovereign- 
ty. Some see.n to think that if they had not been 
checked in their career by the coming of the whites 
they would have extended their empire over the great- 
er part of North America. Their domain extended 
from the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes on the 
North to the Carolinas on the South, and from the 
lordly Hudson on the East to where the Ohio mingles 
its peaceful waters with the Mississippi. 

Although their confederation was purely Democratic 
in spirit, yet, ruling over so large a territory, they 
found it necessary to adopt the representative form. 
They w^ere constrained at first to form a league of de- 
fense against the more numerous and hostile tribes by 
which they were surrounded. This union developed 
their natural aptitude for government, and necessity 
compelled them to keep it in active operation. In a 
short time instead of acting on the defensive they be- 
came the most aggressive warriors on the American 
continent. Like the political fathers who framed our 
present constitution they made a wide distribution of 
power. 

Lossing gives the following division: "Each canton 
or nation ^-as a distinct republic, independent of all 
others in relation to its domestic affairs, but each 
bound to the others of the league by ties of honor and 
general interest. Each canton had eight principal 
sachems, or civil magistrates, and several inferior 
.sachems. The whole number of civil magistrates in 
the confederacy amounted to nearly two hundred. 
There were fifty hereditary sackems." 

"Each canton, or nation was subdivided' into clans 
or tribes, each clan having a heraldic insignia called 
totem. For this insignia one tribe would • have the 
figure of a wolf-; another of a bear; another of a deer; 
another of a tcirtoise and so on;.'By their totemic 



20 THE IROQUOIS 

system they maintained a perfect tribal union. After 
the European came, the sachem of the tribe affixed his 
totem, in the form of a rude representation of the ani- 
mal that marked his tribe, to the documents he was 
.required to sign, 'like an ancient monarch affixing 
his seal.' " 

Fiske in his Discovery of America sa} s "The con- 
federacy had no Chief Sachem or Chief Magistrate." 
But lyossing says "The League had a President 
clothed with powers similar to those conferred on the 
Chief Magistrate of the United States. He had au- 
thority to assemble a Congress of Representatives of 
the League. He had a cabinet of six advisors, and 
in the Grand Council he was moderator." 

PUBI.IC OFFICE 

It was only by merit that public office could be se- 
cured, and public opinion was the only reward for 
years of active service. 

The Onondaga tribe was honored by having the first 
President selected from among their wise men. Tra- 
dition says this man was Ato-tar-ho who lived in a 
swamp surrounded by hissing serpents, and udio ate 
and drank from dishes made from the skulls of those 
whom he had slain in battle. 

Receiving no piy but that of pa .)lij favor, these 
sachems became renowned for their prudence and sa- 
gacity. All affairs of great importance weie transacted 
in the general council at Onondaga, but in local affairs 
and in cases of pressing emergency each nation acted 
for itself. 

In one thing the Iroquois were not unlike the Ro- 
mans ; military power was stronger than the civil 
power and often overthrew the latter by deposing the 
sachems. The military leaders received their author- 
ity from the people, receiving the title of Chief. A 
military leader wishing to secure a band of followers 



THE GOVERNMENT OF TFIE IROQUOIS 21 

organized a war dance, which was the recruiting sta- 
tion of the tribe. It was never necessary to resort to 
conscription to fill the ranks. But however strong 
the army might be, there was a third party which had 
the right to veto a declaration of war. This party 
was composed of the matrons of the long houses w^ho 
could demand a cessation of war; nor was it any dis- 
grace for the bra v^est chief to bury the hatchet at the 
command of the peace party. In this one thing, at 
least, the Iroquois were a step in advance of the most 
highly civilized nations of to-day, "woman was man's 
co-worker in legislation." Pre-eminent in their love 
of freedom they never made slaves of any, not even 
captives in war. These they either killed or adopted 
into their owm tribes. Born diplomats they excelled 
many a modern master of diplomatic art in tact, self 
repression and political sagacity. 



CHAPTER V 

THE HOMR 

One of the most interesting things in the study of 
these Indians is that of their manner of building their 
habitations or "Long Houses." I quote from Mr. 
Morgan's "House Life of the American Aborigines." 
"The long house was from fifty to eighty and some- 
times one hundred feet long. It consisted of a strong 
frame of upright poles set in the ground, which was 
strengthened with horizontal poles attached with 
withes, and surmounted with a triangular, and in some 
cases with a round roof. It was covered over, both 
sides and roof, with long strips- of elm bark tied to the 
frame with strings or splints. An external frame of 
poles for the sides and of rafters for the roof was then 
adjusted to hold the bark shingles between them, the 
two frames being tied together. The interior of the 
house was comparted [divided] at intervals of six or 
eight feet, leaving each chamber entirely open like a 
stall upon the passage way w^hich passed through the 
centre of the house from end to end. At each end 
was a doorwa}' covered with suspended skins. Be- 
tween each four apartments, two on a side, was a fire 
pit in the centre of the hall, used in common l^y their 
occupants. Thus a house with live fires would con- 
tain twenty apartments and accommodate twenty 
families, unless some apartments were reserved for 
storage. They were warm, roomy, and tidily -kept 
habitations. Raised bunks' were constructed around 
the walls of each apartment for beds. From the roof 
poles were suspended their strings of corn in the ear, 
braided by the husks, also strings of dried squashes 



THE HOME 23 

and pumpkins. Spaces were contrived here and there 
to store away their accumulations of provisions. Each 
house, as a rule, was occupied by related families, the 
mothers and their children belongino; to the same gens, 
while their husbands and the fathers of the children 
belonged to other gentes; consequently the gens or 
clan of the mother largely predominated in the house- 
hold. Whatever was taken in the hunt or raised by 
cultivation by any member of the household was for 
the common benefit. Provisions were made a common 
stock within the household. Besides the food, the do- 
mestic utensils, the rude implements of husbandry, 
and the children belonged wholly to the gens or clan." 

IROQUOIS WOMEN 

Marriage life among tne Indians was somewhat dif- 
ferent from that among the white people of our times. 
Fiske in his most excellent work — The Discovery of 
America, says: "When a young woman got married 
she brought her husband home with her. Though 
henceforth an inmate of this household he remained 
an alien to her clan. If he proved lazy and failed to 
do his share of the providing, woe be to him. No 
matter how many children, or whatever goods he 
might have in the house, he might at any time be 
ordered to pick up his blanket and budge; and after 
such orders it would not be healthful for him to dis- 
obey, the house would be to hot for him and unless 
saved by the intercession of some aunt or grandmother 
•of his wife he mu^t retreat to his own clan, or, as was 
■often done, go and start a new matrimonial alliance in 
some other. The female portion ruled the house." 
And yet the wife was the slave of her husband. It 
was she who generally dressed the skins from which 
she made clothing for the family and often built the 
wigwam. She cultivated the soil with the rudest im- 
plements while her husband hunted and fished or went 



24 THE IROQUOIS 

upon the warpath. One writer has said that "These 
women, in keeping secrets and in being close-mouthed 
excel all the other women of the world. Rubens nor 
Titian could hardl}^ equal them in the skill of coloring 
their robes, belts of wampum, or birch boxes in red, 
blue or yellows They used quills of porcupines as their 
pencils, and selected for their colors the leaves and 
blossoms of plants, chiefly the forest sumac and the 
juice of berries." 

POTTERY 

The Iroquois excelled many of the other Indians in 
the- manufacture of fabrics and domestic utensils, 
which they often ornamented with taste and skill. 
One of the most ancient of their arts was that of pot- 
tery. In very old mounds are found earthern pots and 
pipes with curious ornamentation. Some of this ware 
is so firm as to admit of considerable polish. The ma- 
terial out of which they made their pottery was clay 
and quartz. According to Morgan, who was well 
versed in the domestic life of the Iroquois, their clay 
pipes were as hard as marble. They often ornament- 
ed their pipes with the picture of some animal. An- 
other kind of pipe was carved out of soap-stone. 

In Indian burial places are found earthen pots hold- 
ing, perhaps, five or six quarts in which had been de- 
posited food for the departed to sustain them while on 
their journey to the realm of the Great Spirit. 
EDGK TOOLS 

Metal utensils seem to have been unknown among 
the Iroquois before the advent of the white man 
[Morgan,] The}' made rude knives and chisels of 
flint and hornstone. The tomahawk also was made of 
stone and was shaped not unlike the steel axe of the 
present day, except that, instead of an eye, a groove 
was hollowed out around the tomahawk in which a 
crotched or vSplit stick was fastened with a thong or 



THE HOME 25 

withe. The}^ also made a kind of stone gouge, con- 
cave, by means of which they hollowed out hard 
stones for mortars in which they ground their corn, 
paint, barks and roots for medicines. It was only 
with the greatest labor that an Indian could cut down 
trees, and cut them into logs. Fire was applied at 
the foot and as fast as the wood became charred the 
coal was scraped away till, after a long time, the tree 
was burned through and fell. In the same manner it 
was burned through at regular distances to make logs. 

BARK BARRELS, AND TRAYS 

Perhaps more convenient articles were made out of 
the bark of trees than of any other material. Barrels 
were made of the inside bark of the red elm. It was 
arranged so that the grain ran around the barrel, and 
carefully fastened up and down the side with thread 
made of thin bark or hide. These had a bottom and 
not infrequently a cover and were used as receptacles 
for seeds, corn, beans, dried fruits, and the like. They 
were very durable, often being retained in the family 
for a hundred years. [Morgan.] A fiat piece of inside 
bark from some large tree was turned up at the ends 
and sides, which were held in place both inside and 
out by splints of some very strong wood. This made 
a very convenient tray for many uses. In these were 
mixed the various ingredients from which were made 
their most civilized food. 

ROPES AND STRAPS 

From bark were also made the rope and strap with 
which thej^ carried their burdens. Rawhide was often 
used but does not seem to have been as serviceable as 
those made from bark. The inside bark of the elm or 
bass wood was secured and boiled in ashes and water. 
Then it was dried and separated into filaments, which 
were braided into various kinds of rope. That made 
from slippery-elm was very pliable and the most dur- 



-26 THE IROQUOIS 

able. The burden strap used by the Indian women 
was often ornamented with porcupine quill-work. 
These displayed a skill in design and workmanship 
scarcely equalled by the women of any barbaric nation. 

MAPI.E SUGAR 

One of the Indian festivals is that instituted to the 
maple and is known as the Maple Dance. Whether the 
Indian learned from the white man how to make sugar 
•or the white man learned from the Indian is uncertain. 
[Morgan.] At any rate, the Indian sap-tub was a 
unique and handy article surpassing the trough used 
so many years by our forefathers. "A strip of bark 
about three feet in length by two in width, makes the 
tub. The rough bark is left upon the bottom and 
sides. At the joint where the bark is to be turned 
up to form the ends, the outer bark is removed; the in- 
ner rind is then turned up, gathered together in small 
folds at the top and tied around with a splint. It is 
then ready for use, and will last several seasons. 
Aside from the natural fact that the sap would be 
quite at home in the bark tub, and its flavor preserved 
untainted, it is more durable and capacious than the 
wooden one and more readil}' made." [Morgan.] 

THE BIRCH BARK CANOE. 

The Indian also excelled in making his bark canoe 
which was, perhaps, his onl}^ conveyance worth}^ the 
name. It was so light that he could carry it around 
falls and obstructions, so strong that it could carry 
several tons, and, with good care and usage, would 
last many 3'ears. It was made from the bark of the 
b)irch, red-elm or hickory. A single piece of bark was 
taken from a tree from ten to fort}' feet in length, and, 
after the rough, outside bark was peeled off, was bent 
into the required shape. All around the top edge of 
the canoe, rim pieces, both inside and out, were fasten- 
-ed either with threads of bark or with splints. Across 



THE HOME 27 

the bottom, inside, and up the sides were placed ribs 
at a distance apart of a few inches, which were fasten- 
ed to the rims. Lengthwise, on the bottom was some- 
times placed a thin, wide piece of wood on which to 
stand. Pitch was used in stopping seams and small 
holes. At the ends, which were pointed, the bark was 
united with the greatest care. One person usually 
paddled these canoes, while standing in the stern, ex- 
cept on long expeditions when several seated on alter- 
nate sides paddled the light canoe with great swiftness. 
By the use of this conveyance they passed quickly from 
point to point along their numerous lakes and rivers. 
The furs which the early traders bought of the Indians 
were brought a great distance in their-easily contrived 
boats. 

SNOW SHOES 

"The snow shoe is an Indian invention." [Mor- 
gan.] The white hunter quickly saw its utility and 
made it his inseparable companion on his long winter 
expeditions. With it he could travel farther on the 
snow than he could in summer on the ground. It was 
no unusual thing for a trapper to travel forty miles be- 
tween sun and sun on a pair of snow shoes. At the 
same time he would carry a heavy load of traps or 
furs besides his gun and provisions. A piece of hick- 
ory or ash about one inch in diameter and six feet long 
was bent with the bow at the front end and brought to a 
point at the heel. Near the front it was from fourteen 
to eighteen inches across, and held in shape by cross 
pieces firmly fastened at each end to the rim or frame. 
Between these cross pieces and the outside frame, was 
a very strong netting of woven deer thongs, the 
meshes of which, were about an inch across. At the 
fore part of this net work the ball of the foot was fast- 
ened, leaving the heel free, while the toes of the foot, 
at every step, naturally bent over the cross braids to 



28 ■ THE IROQUOIS 

which the net work was fastened at the front. If the 
snow be slightly packed or frozen it will bear a man 
who can easily run down heavy game. 

THE BABY FRAME 

Another Indian invention was the baby frame. It 
was about two feet in length and twelve or fourteen 
inches through, curved at the front, and having a bow 
extending out over the front at the upper end. The 
mother exercised the greatest skill in ornamenting the 
frame. The baby was wrapped in a soft blanket and 
placed in this frame, and a cover was thrown over the 
arch or bow at the top. When walking, the mother 
fastened this frame to her back. When working in 
the field, she would hang it from some nearby support 
and it would swing in the breeze. Travellers tell us 
that a baby w^ould hang thus for hours and not make 
a single complaint. 

BASKETS AND BOTTI.ES 

The Indian w^omen also showed much inventive gen- 
ius in the baskets which they w^ove from splints, corn- 
husks and flags. The most perfectly finished of these 
was the sieve basket, designed for sifting corn meal. 
The bottom of the basket was woven so finely as to an- 
swer this purpose nearly as w^ell as a ware sieve. [Mor- 
gan.] Another ingenious contrivance w^as the salt 
bottle which was woven larger at the bottom than at 
the top and looked not unlike a small wicker v;oven 
demijohn. 

THE MOCCASIN 

"The moccasin is preeminentl}" an Indian invention, 
and one of the highest antiquity." [Morgan.] It was 
made of a single piece of skin with a seam only at the 
top and heel. When not allowed to fall at the top, it 
reached above the ankle where it was fastened wath 
deer strings. There has never been made any outside 
covering for the foot that was more nearly adapted to 



THE HOME 29 

the purpose for which it was designed. The needle 
was made from a bone found near the ankle joint of 
the deer. The thread was made from the sinews of 
the same animal. The deer skin is tanned by the use 
of the brains of the deer. These are dried in cakes for 
future use. The hair is scraped from the skin, after 
which the skin is soaked in a solution made by boiling 
the cake of brains in water. After a few hours it is 
wrung and stretched till it becomes pliable. Some- 
times it is necessary to repeat this process. Afterward 
it is thoroughly smoked till the pores are full and the 
-skin is tough It is then ready for use. The brains 
of some other animals were also used. Bear skins 
were not tanned but were left with the hair on for 
beds upon which to sleep. [Morgan.] 

INDIAN CORN 

The Iroquois used three kinds of corn, White, Red 
and White Flint. When ripe they husked and braid- 
ed it as our farmers do to-day and hung it in a dry 
place. It was their staple article of food, and they 
used it on nearly all occasions. They ground it in a 
mortar and sifted the meal in a sieve basket, and then 
baked it in loaves an inch thick and about six inches 
in diameter. This was the Indian bread. They also 
had a way of charring the corn which would cause it 
to keep for several years. Another way was to pick 
the corn when it was yet green and partially roast it, 
and then it was shelled and dried in the sun. With it 
was mixed about a third part of maple sugar and 
ground .into flour. The hunter or warrior could sub- 
sist upon a small amount of this while on a long ex- 
pedition. 'This noble grain, one of the gifts of the 
Indian to the world, is destined, eventually, to become 
one of the staple articles of human consumption." 
[Morgan.] 



CHAPTER VI 

LEGENDS 

Nearly all writers on Indian affairs tell us the Indian 
knew little if anything of the passion of love. But the 
large number of love legends that have been handed 
down from generation to generation go to show that 
the dusky y.oung people of the forest could love as 
truly as the more civilized white people. 

In different parts of our State are to be found huge 
bluffs where the ledge of rock has either been raised 
nearly vertical by some great upheaval of the earth's 
crust, or has been worn away on one side so as to pre- 
sent an unbroken fall of from one to two hundred feet. 
These places are known as "Lovers' Leap." There is 
such a romantic spot near the city of Little Falls. The 
Indians have a very pretty legend connected with these 
places. Once upon a time, when one of the Iroquois 
nations was at war with the Algonquins, a brave and 
handsome young chief was taken prisoner and con- 
demned to die. While awaiting the day of execution, 
he was fed by a beautiful Iroquois maiden, daughter 
of the chief. Her pity for the brave young warrior 
soon changed to love, and she determined to save his 
life. Watching her opportunity, one night when the 
sentinels, tired with their long vigil, had fallen asleep, 
she glided silently to his side and cut the cords which 
bound him, and whispered to him to follow her. 
Scarcely had they reached the river's brink when the 
shrill war whoop sounded on the night air, and they 
knew they were pursued. They had not gone a hun- 
dred rods before they saw a dozen hardy warriors ifi 
canoes rapidly gaining upon them. They paddled to 



LEGENDS 31 

the shore and climbed the rugged mountain on the 
brow of which they were discovered in the early morn- 
ing light. The old chief, beside himself with anger, 
drew his bow to shoot the fugitive Algonquin, when 
the maiden stepped before him to shield him from her 
father. She plead for her lover's life, and said they 
vv^ould throw themselves from the precipice rather than 
be separated. Several warriors were sent forward to 
secure them, when the lovers, with a despairing cry, 
turned and threw themselves from the ledge and died 
together on the rocks below. Too late the stern father 
repented of his cruelty and wept over the tragic end of 
the life of his beautiful daughter. 

DISCOVERY OF MEDICINE 

The Indians have some queer traditions concerning 
the discovery of medicinal plants. The following is 
one of these : '-'An Indian hunter went forth to hunt, 
and as he wandered in the forest he heard a strain of 
beautiful music far off among the trees. He listened 
but could not tell whence it came, and knew it could 
not be by any human voice, or from any instrument he 
had ever heard. As he came near it ceased. The 
next evening he went forth again, but he heard not 
the music; and again, but in vain. Then came the 
Great Spirit to him in a dream and told him he must 
fast, and wash himself till he was purified, and then 
he might go forth, and he would hear again the music. 
So he purified himself and went again among the 
darkest trees of the forest, and soon his ear caught the 
sweet strains, and as he drew near they became more 
beautiful, and he listened till he had learned them and 
could make the same sweet sounds. Then he saw that 
it was a plant with a tall green stem and long tapering 
leaves. He took his knife and cut the stalk, but ere 
he had scarcely finished, it healed and was the same as 
before. He cut it again, and again it healed; and then 



32 THE IROQUOIS 

he knew it would heal diseases, and he took it home 
and dried it by the fire, and pulverized it, and apply- 
ing a few particles of it to a dangerous wound, no 
sooner had it touched the flesh than it w^as whole. 
Thus the Great Spirit taught the Indian the nature of 
medicinal plants, and directed him where they were 
to be found." 

THE PIGIMIES AND GREAT BUFFALOES 

The Pigmies were like folks, who lived in the far 
distant North wdiere it was so cold that they could not 
grow to the stature of men and women. These little 
folks were always doing good to the family of man. 
The Great Buffaloes wxre huge monsters that lived on 
human flesh and travelled in great subterranean walks 
from which they would suddenly appear upon the 
earth and devour all the people in a village before they 
had time to escape. "One day an Indian maiden was 
dipping water from a little brook, and as she bent over 
the stream, the water reflected a strange appearance. 
On looking up she beheld three Pigmies just alighting 
near where she stood. She knew immediately that 
there w^as danger, for they never at any other time 
made themselves visible to mortal eyes. , The Pigmies 
knew where the Great Buffaloes had gone, and that 
they would soon return, and they bade the maiden 
flee to inform her people that they might be ready for 
flight if they should not succeed in their mission; but 
they told her they would meet her again at the stream 
and inform her if they were able to destroy them. 
When they had finished their message, with one stroke 
of their paddles the canoe arose in the air and sailed 
along over the tree tops a great distance, and then de- 
scended to the water, when another stroke bore it 
again aloft. When they reached the place where the 
buffaloes appeared, they cut down the largest hickory 



. LEGENDS 33 

trees and split them in two parts for their bows, and 
made them arrows of the tallest pines of the forest 
With these they pierced them and sent the arrows with 
such force that they passed through the monsters, who 
fell crushmg whole forests beneath them. From their 
blood arose the small buffaloes, while their bones have 
remained undecayed for untold centuries. ' ' 

"The Pigmies, having accomplished their purpose re- 
turned to inform the maiden at the stream, who listened 
to their stor>^ with delight, and ran to announce the 
glad tidings to her people, and then they departed to 
their northern home. ' ' 

THE PI.KIADKS 

The Pleiades, or Seven Stars, were placed in the 
heavens m the following manner : 

"Seven little boys asked their mothers to permit them 
to make a feast; but they were denied. Still intent up- 
on their purpose, they went alone and procured a little 
white dog to sacrifice, and while dancing around the 
fire, they were suddenly carried away through the air 
by some invisible spirit. Their mothers gazed after 
tliem with inconsolable anguish, till they saw them take 
their place in the sky among the starry hosts, where 
they are dancing still as the seven stars of the pleiades. ' ' 

WITCHCRAFT 

A belief in witchcraft seems to have been born in the 
American Indian From the very interesting writing 
of Schoolcraft I take the following, concerning this be- 
lief among the Iroquois : 

"Among the Iroquois the belief was universal, and 
its effects upon their prosperity and population, if tra- 
dition is to be credited, were at times appaUino- The 
theory of the popular belief, as it existed in the several 
cantons, was this : The witches and wizards constitut- 
ed a secret association, which met at night to consult on 
mischief, and each was bound to inviolable secrecv 



34 THE IROQUOIS 

They say this fraternity first arose among the Nanti- 
cokes. A witch or wizard had power to turn into a 
fox or wolf, and run very swift, emitting flashes of 
light. They could also transform themselves into a 
turkey or big owl, and fly ver>^ fast. If detected, or 
hotly pursued, they could change into a stone or rotten 
log. They sought carefully to procure the poison of 
snakes or poisonous roots, to effect their purposes. 
They could blow hairs or w^orms into a person." 

The same authority recites a story told by Webster, 
the naturalized Onondaga, who heard it from the lips 
of an aged Onondaga. This old man said that he had 
formerly lived near the old church on the Kasoida 
Creek, near James ville, where there was in old times a 
populous Indian village. One evening, he said, whils't 
he lived there he .stepped out of his lodge, and immedi- 
ately sank in the earth, and found himself in a large 
room, surrounded by three hundred witches and wiz- 
ards. Next morning he went to the council and told 
the chiefs of this extraordinary occurrence. They ask- 
ed him whether he could not identify the persons. He 
said he could. They then accompanied him on a visit 
to all the lodges, where he pointed out this and that 
one, who were marked for execution. Before this in- 
quiry was ended, a very large number of persons of 
both sexes were killed. Another tradition says that 
about fifty persons were burned to death at the Onon- 
daga castle for witches. 

The delusion prevailed among all the cantons. The 
last persons executed for witchcraft among the Oneidas, 
suffered about forty years ago. They were two females. 
The executioner was the notorious Hon Yost of revolu- 
tionary^ memory-. He entered the lodge, according to a 
prior decree of the Council, and struck them down with 
•a tomahawk. One was found in the lodge; the other 
suffered near the lodge door. 



LEGENDS 35 

ANCIEJNT WORSHIP 

In Schoolcraft's notes on the Iroquois we read ''that 
it was a striking peculiarity of the ancient religious 
system of the Iroquois that, once a year, the priesthood 
supplied the people with sacred fire. For this purpose, 
a set time was announced for the ruling priest's visit.' 
The entire village was apprised of this visit, and the 
master of each lodge was expected to be prepared for 
this annual rite. Preliminary to the visit, his lodge 
fire was carefully put out and ashes scattered about it, 
as a symbolic sign of desolation and want. Deprived 
of this element, they were also deprived of its symbolic 
mfluence, the sustaining aid and countenance of the Su- 
preme Power, whose image they recognized in the sun." 
"It was to relieve this want, and excite hope and 
animation in breasts which had throbbed with dread 
that the priest visited the lodge. Exhibiting the insig- 
nia of the sacerdotal office, he proceeded to invoke the 
Master of I.ife in their behalf, and ended his visit by 
striking fire from the flint, or from percussion, and 
lighting anew the domestic fire. The lodge was then 
swept and garnished anew, and a feast succeeded. 
This sacred service annually performed, had the effect 
to fix and increase the reverence of the people for the 
priestly office. It acted as a renewal of their ecclesias- 
tical fealty; and the consequence was, that the institu- 
tion of the priesthood was deeply and firmly seated." 

THK INDIAN YEAR 

^ "Whether this rite had any connection with the pe- 
riod of the solstices, or with the commencement of the 
lunar year, is not known, but is highly probable. Their 
year was the lunar j^ear. It consisted of thirteen moons, 
each of which is distinctly named. Thirteen moons of 
28 days each, counting from visible phase to phase, 
make a year of 364 days, which is the greatest astro- 
nomical accuracy reached by the North American 
tribes. ' ' 



CHAPTER VII 

THE ONEIDA STONE 

The following excellent account of the historical 
Oneida Stone was kindly furnished by the Rev. George 
Hardy, of Sanquoit, N. Y, 

Near the entrance of Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, on 
a slight artificial mound, is a roundish, oblong boulder 
of gray syenite, known as the Oneida Stone. It was 
an object of special veneration to the Indians of New 
York, and especially to the Oneidas, the second of the 
tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy. Indeed it gave 
name to this tribe, and through them to many localities 
in the State and elsewhere. The story of the Stone 
contains much of legend mixed with certain facts of 
veritable history. We will make no attempt to disen- 
tangle these, but give the story as accepted by the In- 
dians. In the Oneida speech, onia is stone; on iota is 
child of the stone, or man of the stone. By mispro- 
nunciation this became Oneida. The stone was heav- 
en sent, a token of the presence of the Great Spirit. It 
was given to the tribe at its very beginning, on the Os- 
wego River, near Oneida Lake. To them it was sacred, 
and became central in their religious and social life. It 
was their alter of sacrifice. Around it were held the 
feasts of New Year and harvest, and other festivals. 
Beside it were their war dances and council fires. It 
added solemn sanction to their treaties and other en- 
gagements. Later, when the headquarters of the tribe 
were removed to the eastern end of the lake near where 
it receives the waters of Oneida Creek, the Stone ac- 
companied them, untouched by human hands. The 
same thing occurred at a subsequent removal w^ th^ 



THE OXFIDA STOXP: 37 

creek, — the vStcne taking position on a hill on the east- 
ern side, in what is now the town of Stockbridge, in 
Madison Co. Here it remained during the subsequent 
history of its people. It here saw the rise and power of 
the confederacy of the Five Nations. It here listened 
to wnsdom and eloquence unsurpassed by Greek or 
Roman. Logan, the white man's friend uttered w^ords 
that burn. Sconondoa, warrior-chief and last orator of 
his race, swayed the hearts of his fellow tribesmen. 
This was the resting place of the stone when the white 
man appeared in the land, and the red skinned children 
of the Great Spirit began to give way before him. It 
saw the hunting grounds of its people becoming the 
corn fields of the stranger, their forest -trails growing 
into his highways of traffic, their hills and valleys filled 
and crowned with his settlements. It saw its people 
themselves waste away at the stranger's presence, their 
council fires extinguished, their festal days unobserved, 
their sacrifices unofEered. It saw them diminished and 
scattered, their tribal life lost, and their political powder 
forever gone. "It was a stranger in the home of its 
children, an exile on its owai soil." Awhile after the 
opening of the Forest Hill Cemetery, the Oneida Stone 
was, by glad consent of all parties interested, removed 
to its present location, there to be cared for as a memo- 
rial of a people who showed many excellences of char- 
acter, and took no insignificant part in some of the ex- 
citing incidents of our nation's history. 



CHAPTER VIII 

GAMES 

We are largely indebted to that excellent work, 
Morgan's League of the Iroquois, for a description of 
the six principal games of the Six Nations. These 
were played both at their religious festivals, and on 
special days set apart for celebration. Challenges were 
sent from village to village, or from tribe to tribe, and 
not infrequently from the stranger tribes or nations. 
When these formal challenges were lacking, frequent- 
ly' a village separated into two divisions, not unlike 
our old fashioned spelling schools, each division striv- 
ing for the mastery. 

GAMBLING 

Betting was common among the Indians, and it was 
not unusual for one of them to gamble away all the 
property which he might possess; "his tomahawk, his 
medal, his ornaments and even his blankets. ' ' 
THE BALL GAME 

Of all tht games played by these people, the ball 
game was the one most favored. The bat used was 
about five feet long and looked not unlike a tennis 
racket split lengthwise. The ball was made of deer 
skin. There were six or eight players on each side. 
The field was about eighty rods across, with a gate on 
each side, which was simply two upright poles about 
three rods apart. One of these gates belonged to each 
party and the contest was to see which party would 
first carry the ball through its own gate a given num- 
ber of times. In preparing for games of strength, skill 
and endurance, the contestant often went through a 
rigid course of dieting and traiaing. He entered the 



GAMES 39 

lists naked except that he wore a waist cloth. The 
players were stationed in parallel lines, each side op- 
posite of its own gate. The ball was dropped between 
the two rows where were stationed one player from 
each side. These two immediately began a contest 
for the possession of the ball. Great skill and dexteri- 
ty was displayed until one or the other would succeed 
in sending it into the field among his own party. Then 
began a lively skirmish between the two parties to see 
which side could first force the ball through its own 
gate. The game often lasted the entire afternoon, and 
not infrequently was finished on the succeeding day. 
If one of the plaj^ers was injured, he left the field and 
his place was filled with another from his party. The 
Indian was peculiarly fitted for this game. 

THE GAME OF JAVEIvINS 

The game of javelins did not require the skill nor 
the endurance that was needed in playing ball. In 
this there was required a ring about eighteen inches 
in diameter, and each player had from three to six 
javelins. The contending parties were drawn up in 
two separate lines facing each other. One party rolled 
the ring in front of the other party who threw their 
javelines at it. If one of the party struck the ring, it 
was set up for a target at the spot where it was hit, 
.and each man was required to throw his javelin at it. 
Those javelins, which hit the target thus thrown, were 
saved; those which passed the target without hitting it 
became the propert}^ of the other side and were thrown 
at the ring by them. Those javelins which hit were 
thus won and laid out of the play, while those which 
missed went to the rightful owners. Then the ring 
was rolled by the other party, and the foregoing was 
repeated. This was continued until one side had lost 
.all their javelins, which decided the contest. 



40 THE IROQuuiS 

THK GAME OF DEER BUTTONS 

The game of deer buttons was a fireside game and 
was played with eight buttons about an inch in diame- 
ter made of elk horn, and were blackened upon one 
side. The players seated themselves upon a blanket 
spread out for the purpose. Near them was a certain 
number of beans piled npon the floor. One of the 
players would take the eight buttons in his hand, 
shake them, and throw them on the blanket. If all 
turned up the same color, the player took twenty beans 
from the pile, if six turned up of the same color, he 
took two beans; if seven, he took four. He continued 
to throw so long as not less than six of the same color 
turned up, when the throw passed to the other player. 
Thus they continued till the beans were in the posses- 
sion of the two players, after which the loser w^as 
obliged to pay forfeit from his own stock till one man 
won them all. Any number could play this game at 
the same time, but each one had to give up two, four 
or twenty beans for each lucky throw of the opposing 
side. 

THE GAME OF SNOWSNAKES 

The game of snowsnakes was played only in the 
winter season. The snakes were carefully made of the 
toughest hickory and were about one fourth of an inch 
thick and in width tapered from one inch at the head 
to half an inch at the foot, and were six or seven feet 
in length. The head was round and turnel up like a 
sleigh runner, and was tipped with lead. These were 
played by skillfully throwing them so that they would 
run or slide a great distance over the frozen snow. 
The number of players was limited and selected with 
the greatest care. After the place had been selected 
and the direction determined, the snakes were thrown 
by the contending parties. That snake which ran the 
greatest distance was a point for the side to which it 



GAMES 41 

belonged. These contests were repeated till one side 
had won the necessary number of points. 

THE BOW AND ARROW 

"In archery the Indian has scarcely been excelled. 
With a quick eye and a powerful muscle, he could send 
his arrow as unerringly as the archers of Robin Hood." 
To be the best marksman in the tribe was considered 
a great honor. The bow was three or four feet in 
length and very strong, so that when the string was 
well drawn back it sent an arrow with great swiftness. 
It required the greatest muscular strength to use such 
a weapon. The arrow was about three feet long, 
pointed with flint or other hard substance, and at its 
small end were fastened feathers in a spiral form which 
caused it to revolve. This gave it a horizontal direc- 
tion and may have been what suggested the grooved 
rifle barrel. Morgan tells us that the Scottish and 
English archers tipped their arrows with straight 
feathers. 

LEAPING AND WRESTLING 

He further says that leaping, wrestling and other 
gymnastic exercises appeared to be no part of their 
public amusement. Very often in hand to hand con- 
tests the white man exhibited more skill in boxing 
and could throw his Indian opponent, but could not 
keep him down when thrown. 

THE FOOT RACE 

There was one exercise in which the Indian greatly 
excelled, viz: the foot race. Situated as the six na- 
tions were they needed runners to carry messages 
from nation to nation and it was a matter of national 
pride to have the swiftest runner. There grew up a 
spirit of emmulation which resulted in regular contests. 
The competitors often went through a course of train- 
ing and dieting as the more civilized athlete does to-day. 



42 THE IROQUOIS 

THE PEACH STONE GAME 
From ancient times it was customary to close the 
Green Corn and Harvest festivals and the New Year's 
jubilee with the Peach Stone game. So much did 
they admire this game that they believed they would 
enjoy it in the future life in the realm of the Great 
Spirit. Six peach stones, w^hich had been ground 
down so that the pit could be removed, were blacken- 
ed upon one side. These were thrwon into a wooden 
or earthern dish and the count depended upon the 
number of one kind that came up similar to the game 
of deer buttons already explained except that nothing 
less than five of a kind counted instead of six. It 
often took the greater part of two days to play this 
game, and simple as it may seem, it usually produced 
great excitement throughout the tribes whose represen- 
tatives were engaged. I quote again from Morgan. 
''Among the Iroquois, in the celebration of their 
national games, as far as they went, is to be found the 
same species of enthusiasm and emulation which 
characterized the celebration of the games of antiquity. 
Although the national games, like the popular songs 
of one people, may be incapable of exciting the en- 
thusiasm or awakening the patriotic spirit of another; 
yet they are not, for this reason, devoid of interest. 
If it be asked what interest for us can attach to these 
games of the Iroquois, one answer at least may be 
given: — they show that the American wilderness, 
which we have been taught to pronounce a savage soli- 
tude until the white men entered its borders, had long 
been vocal in its deepest seclusions, with the gladness 
of human hearts. ' ' 



CHAPTER IX 

KARLY EXPLORERS 

When Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence he found 
a large village occupying the present site of Montreal 
surrounded with crops of waving corn. It was occu- 
pied by a tribe of Indians which the French named 
the Iroquois. They treated the white men with great 
reverence, as if they were divine, even bringing their 
sick and laying them before the French that their 
presence might heal them. Cartier, returning to Que- 
bec, betrayed the confidence of the natives by forcing 
their head chief and several of his followers on board 
and taking them to France where they died. Four 
years later he returned and attempted to plant a 
colony. But the Indians, remembering Cartier' s 
former conduct, lost faith in the white man and his 
black robed priests, and consequently did not show 
their former kindness. The French leader became 
discouraged and set sail for France. About the same 
time Roberval attempted to establish a colony on the 
same site, but being unfitted by nature for a leader of 
men his attempt resulted in failure and for nearly 
seventy years the St. Lawrence furnished music for 
none but savage ears. [Doyle's English Colonies in 
America.] 

CHAMPLAIN 

The French w^ere the first Europeans to intrude 
upon the domain of the Iroquois. It was given to 
Samuel DeChamplain to carry his faith and his nation- 
ality into the heart of the territory of the amphictyonic 
league, and by so doing he forever ruined all pros- 
pects oi winning the haughty Iroquois and his land 



44 THE IROQUOIS 

for the French crown. He was a French soldier 
anxious to bnild a great empire in the New World. 
Nearly seventy years after Roberval left Quebec, Cham- 
plain and DeMonts re-established a colony at that 
place. They gained the good wall of the surrounding 
red men, and the war trained Frenchman, Champlain, 
could not resist the entreaties of the Hurons to aid 
them in their expeditions against their powerful 
enemies, the Iroquois. They ascended the outlet of 
Lake Champlain on the west bank of which they en- 
countered a large force of the Iroquois. [Colden.] Cham- 
plain placed himself at the head and shot down three of 
the enemy, who were astonished beyond measure at the 
sound of the white man's gun. The Hurons seeing 
the disorder in the ranks of the enemy rushed forward 
and gained a signal victory. The place of this battle 
was at or near Ticonderoga in Essex county, a place 
destined to be the scene of many a skirmish in after 
years. Such was the Iroquois' introduction to the 
Frenchmen, one which they never forgot and never 
wholly forgave. The echoes of Champlain' s guns did 
not cease to reverberate till they died away on the 
Plains of Abraham. Had he come among them as did 
Penn among the Delawares several years later, French. 
History on American soil would have been much dif- 
ferent from what it was. The year following Cham- 
plain gained another victory over them on the river 
Sorel. In the Autumn of this same year still anxious. 
to press his conquests south of the St. I^awrence he 
again lead the Hurons against their ancient enemies. 
He crossed the outlet of I^ake Ontario and coasted 
along its eastern shore for many miles. At some point 
within the present limits of Jefferson county they hid! 
their canoes and marched overland to Oneida Lake- 
South of this, perhaps in Madison county, they found a 
fort, strongly palisaded surrounded by ditches so that 



EARLY EXPLORERS 45 

they could neither take the place by storm nor set it 
on fire, Champlain was wounded and was compelled 
to retreat from the country followed for many miles 
by the infuriated barbarians. This ended Champlain' s 
work in the present limits of New York south of the 
great river; and by his policy the Anglo Saxons aided 
by the powerful Six Nations eventually became the 
dominant race. 

THE DUTCH AND THE IROOUOIS 

In the fall of 1609 Henry Hudson sailed up the 
great North River. About five years later the Dutch 
established a trading post just south of the present site 
of Albany. Thither flocked the Indians with furs to 
exchange for articles which the white man had to sell. 
At the same time the French were trying to secure the 
trade with the tribes in this part of the country and 
came up Lake Champlain iii boats for that purpose. 
Thus early in the seventeenth centur}- the French and 
the Dutch became commercial rivals in the New World. 
After a short time this trading post was abandoned 
and in 161 7 a fort was erected at the mouth of the 
Tawasentha. The Dutchmen with an eye to business 
formed a treaty with the surrounding Indian tribes, 
perhaps the first ever made with the red men. The 
Iroquois were leaders in bringing about this treaty of 
peace while the other tribes were considered as their 
subjects. They buried the tomahawk and the white 
men promised to erect a church over the place as a sign 
of perpetual peace. These traders builded with the 
Indians better than they knew. The treaty of Tawa- 
sentha lasted as long as the Dutch held possession of 
the country, and did much to hold the friendship of 
the great barbaric league. The contrast between the 
treatment accorded the Iroquois by Champlain and the 
t eatment by the Dutch was so great that the latter 
Lad the confidence of these tribes and could depend 



46 THE IROQUOIS 

upon their alliance. They respected the rights of the 
Indians, paid for the lands which they occupied and 
in their dealings were influenced by rules of justice 
and equity. They were not zealots, neither did they 
come to conquer the country and form a great empire 
in the New World. They were largely traders and 
encouraged peace with their savage neighbors as the 
surest road to money getting. 

Early in the history of Fort Orange an incident oc- 
cured which might nave created hard feeling on the 
part of the Mohawks. A party of Mohicans on their 
way to attack their ancient enemies, the Mohawks, in- 
duced a few Dutchmen to join them. The Mohawks 
gained a signal victory and the Dutch leader and three 
of his men lost their lives. The Mohawks claimed to 
have acted on the defensive, so the Dutch wisely let 
the matter drop. Shortly after this the Mohicans were 
driven from their beautiful hunting grounds on the 
Hudson by their ancient enemies. All the river 
Indians were subject to the Mohawks and in the winter 
of 1643 a large party of them marched down the west 
bank of the Hudson to collect tribute from the tribes 
living there. These fled in terror and sought refuge 
with the Dutch in and around Manhattan. Had Kieft 
pursued a course dictated by reason and humanity he 
would have befriended them and won their lasting re- 
gard. But he gave orders to have them cruelly massa- 
cred. This aroused all the surrounding tribes who 
started upon the war path destroying whole villages 
spreading terror and destruction wherever they went.. 
This state of things continued nearly two years when 
the governor made treaties with several of the tribes 
even going with much pomp to the land of the Mo- 
hawks. They made a preliminar}^ treaty with him at 
Fort Orange afterward confirmed by a large gathei^ng 
of Indians at Fort Amsterdam, at which time a party 



EARLY EXPLOYERS 47 

of Mohawks came as arbitrators for the Five Nations. 
Stuyvesant as Governor renewed friendly alliances 
with the powerful Mohawks. Indeed so often did this 
nation act as arbitrators between the Dutch and River 
Indians that great jealousy was aroused on the part of 
the latter. In 1661 Arendt van Curler was sent to 
purchase the "Great Flats" w^here Schenectady now 
stands. Nearly twenty years before he had penetrated 
far into the country of the Mohawks. In all of the 
years that he had dealings with the western Indians 
he treated them with the greatest kindness, and to him 
more than to any other man was due the peaceful 
settlement of the Mohawk Valley. In 1667 he was 
drowned in Lake Champlain, the crystal clearness of 
whose waters is a type of his dealings with the un- 
fortunate red men. 



CHAPTER X 

RELATIONS WITH OTHER TRIBES 

After the destruction of the Pequots on the Mystic 
river, Sassacus, knowing that the English would soon 
attack his tribe, determined to march westward and 
throw himself on the mercies of the Mohawks. He 
did not seem to understand the fierceness of this tribe, 
for as soon as they saw him the}^ cruelly shot him. 
The handful of his followers who escaped the English 
were finally assigned lands by the Mohawks near Lake 
Champlain. 

THE ERIES 

About 1643, according to Schoolcraft, the Senecas 
aided by some of the other members of the confederacy, 
began a war with the Eries and their allies, the an- 
dastes. These Indians lived near Lake Erie and were 
known to the French as the Neuter Indians. They 
were given this name because they kept aloof from all 
the wars of the surrounding tribes. Cusic, the Indian 
historian, says "That delegates from a northern nation, 
with whom the Iroquois were at war, having been re- 
ceived by the Eries, Yagowanea, the female ruler of 
the tribe, at Kienuka, on the Niagara Ridge betrayed 
the Seneca deputation to their concealed enemies from 
the North, by whom they were killed." This was in 
violation of their neutrality and the Iroquois flew to 
arms. The war was short and bloody. There could 
be but one outcome. The Six Nations so long accus- 
tomed to wage war successfully with large and power- 
ful tribes soon conquered the Eries, and as a nation 
they disappeared from history. Mr. Evans vho wrote 
in 1755 says those who survived fled to the valley of 
Ihe Ohio and later still crossed the AUeghanies, 



EELATIONS WITH OTHER TRIBES 49 

THE HURONS 

After the Hurons had united with the French, the 
Iroquois became their most bitter enemies. The whole 
country from the Oswego, Genessee and Niagara riv- 
ers, even to Montreal, was covered with war parties. 
Both of the same race, they carried on the fight with 
the bitterness of a family quarrel. A journey of a 
thousand miles was cheerfully undertaken by an Iro- 
quois if only he could glut his savage revenge. The 
Andastes, who could have sent a band of nearly 1.500 
warriors, offered to assist the Hurons. They refused 
:assistance and alone attempted to defend themselves 
and their country; but by 1647 the Huron tribe was 
brought to great straights and were compelled to seek 
shelter under the guns of Quebec. Even here they 
were not safe and were finally driven from the valley 
•of the St lyawrence about the year 1659. They fled 
up the great Ottowas river and across to the Mani- 
toulin chain of islands. But the merciless Iroquois 
would give them no peace and they sought refuge on 
the shores of Lake Superior. Here again they were 
attacked by their relentless enemies and a great many 
of them cruelly massacred. This place is still known 
as Point Iroquois. 

THE ANDASTES 

In 1 66 1 the Senecas began to carry on a desultory 
warfare with the Andastes. The latter gained a few 
small victories when the Senecas raised an army of 
1,600 warriors and marched into their country and be- 
seiged a small fort. The Andastes held out bravely and 
at last, sallying out, they drove the Senecas in headlong 
flight. This victory earned them not a small amount 
of fame, and caused some of them, harassed b}^ their 
incursions, to move north of Lake Ontario. But from 
this time their power began to wane. Prisoners were 
laken sometimes by one Iroquois tribe and sometimes 



50 THE IROQUOIS 

by another. Schoolcraft relates that a party of 60 
Andastes boys engaged a party of Senecas and put 
them to flight. But by the year 1675 they had been 
subdued by the Iroquois. 



CHAPTER XI 

THK IROQUOIS AND THE KNGLISH 

It was about this time, 1664, that the English com- 
pelled the Dutch to surrender their rights to the pres- 
ent limits of New York. The relations between the 
Dutch and Iroquois were very friendly. The sturdy 
Hollander had almost the entire trade with the Five 
Nations, and had extended his influence even beyond 
the Great Lakes. Even long after the advent of the 
English, he acted as interpreter. When the Iroquois 
learned that the English had taken the place of the 
Dutch, they at once admitted them into their confi- 
dence, and the English, on their part, did their utmost 
to preserve the friendship of this powerful confederacy. 
Their enemies became the enemies of the Iroquois and 
their friends, the friends of the latter. The English 
soon learned that the French wished to acquire the 
beautiful Mohawk valley and if possible extend their 
conquest to the ocean itself. The Six Nations were a 
tower of strength for the English against the encroach- 
ments of the French. Schoolcraft says "who can read 
the details of an hundred years' sanguinary contests, 
without perceiving that it was the undying vigilance, 
the unerring accuracy of their geographical knowledge 
of the wilderness, and the manly bravery of the Iro- 
quois, which, up to the year 1775, preserved western 
New York to the English crown?" 

Champlain had furnished neighboring tribes with 
guns, powder and knives which they used in their 
w^ars against the Iroquois. When the Dutch came 
they could secure these coveted weapons and soon be- 
came a terror not only to the surrounding tribes, but 



52 THE IROQUOIS 

to the French themselves. They successfully repelled 
the invasions of La Barre, Denonville and Frontenac, 
and for a long time resisted the establishment of French 
missions at Oneida, Onondaga and Ontario. The in- 
troduction of fire arms entirely changed the Indian 
mode of fighting. They took longer and more fre- 
quent excursions, and no tribe was able to withstand 
them; while the council fire at Onondaga burned 
brighter than ever before. The English early estab- 
lished an agency among the Mohawks which, by a 
slow growth, in time fully protected English interests. 

FRENCH IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY 

In 1665 Concelles, governor of Canada, sent a party 
against the Mohawks. They travelled on snow shoes 
suffering greatly from the cold. They got as far as 
Schenectady where the Indians would have defeated 
them had it not been for the hospitality of Corlear who 
had great influence with the Mohawks. The next 
spring, twelve light companies of foot, and the whole 
militia of Canada marched into the country of the Mo- 
hawks, who retired into the forests on the approach of 
the enemy. Although the French were unable to sub- 
due the Mohawks, 3'et through a great parade of 
strength and the Indian's fear of fire arms, a peace 
was concluded in 1667 w^hich lasted several years. The 
F'rench governor improved this cessation of hostilities 
by sending out missionaries, building forts and estab- 
lishing trading posts. In 1672 he penetrated as far as 
Oneida Lake where he started to build a fort, which 
Count Frontenac completed the following year. 

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 

Sir William Johnson, on being appointed superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs, assembled a very large num- 
ber of Indians at his place on the Mohawk and an- 
nounced his appointment to them. He made offers to 
them to restore their confidence in the English and to 



THE IROQUOIS AND THE ENGLISH 53 

counteract French influence. He eloquently plead 
with them to send their warriors on Braddock's expe- 
dition. They promptly told him that the governor of 
Virginia had occupied their lands in the Ohio valley 
and so they would not assist him. However they 
agreed to remain neutral. They also declined to ac- 
company Shirley in his expedition to Oswego. But 
they promptly sent a large body of warriors to meet 
Deiskau at Crown Point where they fought with great 
bravery losing their leader, King Hendrick. 

Johnson's victory, which was really earned by Ly- 
man, at Crown Point, was the turning point in the as- 
cendency of the British influence with the Iroquois and 
their allies, which had been at a very low ebb at the 
commencement of the French war. The unearned 
fame which Johnson acquired raised him greatly in the 
estimation of the Iroquois. The triumph at Lake 
George, in which King Hendrick lost his life, presaged 
events soon to transpire. England, advised by such 
men as Johnson, clearly saw that whoever conquered 
wonld control the Indians, and she prepared for a great 
struggle. In a very general council, convened at his 
hall, April 19, 1767, Johnson made a long speech to 
the representatives not only of the Iroquois but many 
other Indians. He attempted to prove to them that 
the French were deceiving the Indians and would not 
keep their promises, but that if they held with the En- 
glish, their lands and their lodges would be protected. 
Said he, "Tell them, from me, to look at the French 
forts, built and building through the middle of their 
country, and on their best building lands. Eet them 
look at French flags, flying in their forts at all the great 
lakes, along the great rivers, in order to oblige them 
to trade with the French only, and sell their skins, 
and take goods from them at what prices the French 
may please to put on them. And it is a thing well 



64 THE IROQUOIS 

known to all Indians, that the French cannot sell their 
goods near as cheap as the English can." 

CROWN POINT 

The expedition against Crown Point was in 
charge of General Wm. Johnson with Colonel Lyman 
second in command. The latter made all the military 
plans for Johnson, and preceded him in the hot sum- 
mer days to a place about fifty miles from Albany, the 
great "carrying place" between Lake Champlain and 
Albany. Here he constructed a fort and named it 
"Fort Lyman." Later in the season Johnson, who, 
according to Lossing, had neither the courage nor the 
skill of a good general, arrived at the place on his 
way to Crown Point. Discouraged by Braddock's de- 
feat and knowdng that the French were gaining a kind- 
ly interest on the part of the Iroquois, he would have 
given up the expedition had it not been for Lyman. 
He finally constructed a camp on Lake George with- 
out entering it or making proper fortifications. Hear- 
ing that the woods to the north were filled with French 
and Indians, he sent Colonel Williams with a detach- 
ment of provincials accompanied by King Hendrick 
wdth a band of Mohawk warriors. They all fell into 
an ambuscade and Williams and Hendrick and many 
of their followers were killed. Those who escaped 
from the carnage fled to Johnson's headquarters. He 
succeeded in felling a breastwork of trees and bringing 
into action two large guns which did much to check 
the rush of the motley crowd of French and Indians. 
Just at this point Lyman maiched upon the scene 
with his small army and took charge of the battle, 
Johnson having retired with a slight flesh wound. The 
battle raged furiously for several hours when the 
French commander received a mortal wound and his 
followers fled leaving Lyman a victor. Had Johnson 
taken advantage of the panic in the French army he 



THE IROQUOIS AND THE ENGLISH 55 

could have captured Crown Point and perhaps have 
driven the enemy into Canada. We have described 
this action at some length because of the prominent 
part taken by the Mohawks and the great loss which 
they sustained in the death of their leader, Soieugar- 
ahta, popularly known as "KingHendrick." School- 
craft tells that he was a chief of high standing among 
the Mohawks, of approved wisdom, undoubted tre- 
pidity, and a firm friend of the English. He had visited 
England, and had been presented at court. He united 
great amenity of manners, dignity of bearing, and 
mild features, to the most determined courage and en- 
ergy. The band of warriors which he led are said to 
have "fought like lions." In comparing his judg- 
ment as a general with that of Johnson's, it is said that 
when the latter wished to send a small company to 
meet the French, Hendrick said, "If they are to fight 
they are too few; if they are to be killed they are too 
many." He easily stood in the first rank of the In- 
dian statesmen of his age. The following story has 
been handed dovv^n from his time. 

Once when visiting at Johnson Hall he saw an em- 
broidered scarlet coat, such a one as was frequently 
worn by English officers of that day. He became pos- 
sessed of a strong desire to own it, which desire he 
satisfied in the follow^ing manner : One morning he 
said to Johnson, "Brother, me dream last night." 
"Indeed," said Johnson, "What did my red brother 
dream?' ' "Me dream that coat be mine. ' ' Johnson, 
thoroughly understanding Indian nature, promptly 
said, "Brother, the coat is yours." Some time after 
this, the Indian commissioner made a visit to King 
Hendrick, and one morning said to him, "My red 
hrother, I dreamed last night." "What did my white 
brother dream?" Hendrick asked. "I dreamed," re- 
plied the wily Johnson, ''that you gave me this tract 



56 THE IROQUUlS 

of land," and he described a section of land with cer- 
tain natural boundaries, including about 100,000 acres. 
Hendrick was astonished, hesitated a few moments, 
and replied, "The land is 3^ours, but do not dream 
again." England confirmed the title, and it was- 
known for many years as "The Royal Grant.'' The 
writer can remember when the older residents called 
the present village of Deveraux, in Fulton County,, 
the "Corner of the Grant." 



CHAPTER XII 

MISSIONARIES AMONG THE INDIANS 

Courage has been admired by all men from the re- 
motest period , and he is the bravest man who resolute- 
ly faces a known danger. No braver set of men ever 
lived than those who penetrated the savage wilderness 
to establish Christian Missions for the conversion of 
the Indians. Many of them were cruelly tor- 
tured and put to death in the most revolting and 
shocking manner. Yet their zeal never waned. They 
were actuated by a desire to spread Christianity; all 
French missionaries were anxious to extend French 
influence and to form a great French empire in the 
New World. Somewhere about the year 1640 or 1641, 
the Iroquois conceived the idea of making a sort of 
treaty with the French, but did not wish to have their 
Indian allies included in the treaty. These terms were 
promptly rejected by the French. The Iroquois 
quickly prepared for war. A large party of them 
captured, on the St. Lawrence, three Frenchmen ac- 
companying several boat loads of Hurons to the Huron 
Country. Many of the Christian Indians were killed 
and a few taken prisoners. One of the captives was 
an Indian maiden who, tradition says, married a Mo- 
hawk chief and was long remembered for her virtues 
and intelligence. She exerted a marked influence 
among the Mohawks, and many interesting stories are 
told concerning her goodness. The three Frenchmen 
were led from town to town along the Mohawk river 
for a week or more. Their finger nails were torn off, 
and pieces of flesh were cut from their backs. They 
were made to run the gauntlet, and then they were 



58 THE IROQUOIS 

tied to stakes while the children and youths amused 
themselves by throwing live coals upon them. At last 
one of them was killed, and a second who had shown 
great bravery was adopted into the tribe. The third 
Frenchman, who was no other than Isaac Jogues, the 
accomplished scholar and zealous priest, was retained 
by them and became a missionary to these barbarians. 
The customs of the Mohawks were revolting to a man 
of such a refined nature. He saw captives burned at 
the stake and their flesh eaten. Van Curler, who was 
at this time a Dutch Commissary, hearing of the treat- 
ment that Jogues was receiving, made a journey into 
the country of the Mohawks. The Indians received 
him kindly, but would not accept his offers for the re- 
lease of the missionary. Later, on an expedition to 
Fort Orange, he made his escape and was befriended 
by the great Dutch preacher. Rev. Megapolensis. 
Money was donated so that he was able to return to 
his native country where he was received with signal 
marks of honor. 

After some time he returned to this country and 
acted in the capacity of peace agent between the Can- 
adian French and the Iroquois. His knowledge of the 
Indian character made him fairly successful on this 
journey. Some time after this he returned to found a 
mission among the Iroquois, but in some manner w^hile 
he had been away from the Indians, they had acquir- 
ed a superstitious fear of him, and as soon as he made 
his appearance among them, he and his companions 
■were cruelly tortured and put to death. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE RKVOLUTION 
When we consider that the colonies were surrounded 
by hostile tribes of Indians numbering many thousands 
of souls, nearly all under the influence of the British 
who had been fifteen 3- ears winning the affections of the 
tribes from the French; the cruelty of savage warfare; 
the great resources of the mother country on land and 
sea; we are astonished at the courage of our forefathers 
in attempting to cut loose from England. To cope 
wdth the ablest generals that a pow^erful nation could 
send, required a skill in war unheard of on the part of 
young and undeveloped colonies. But at the same time 
to cope with an unknown number of barbarians insti- 
gated and often led by still more savage white men was 
an undertaking frought with the greatest danger. The 
colonists w^ent into the struggle with the war whoop ring- 
ing in their ears, and visions of midnight massacres be- 
fore their eyes. Schoolcraft estimates that the English 
employed 770 warriors in this sanquinary struggle, 
whose tomahawks and scalping knives were employed 
on the frontiers of New York, Pennsylvania and Vir- 
ginia. It has been full}' established that a bounty had 
been placed upon the scalps of the settlers, to incite 
the savage desires of an ever vengeful foe. It was 
only through war that the Indian character could de- 
velop and the Indian could win renown. He longed 
for war as the highway to glory. On the one hand 
British emissaries represented that the war was com- 
menced by the colonists, a case of son against father, 
and that there could be but one outcome — for how 
could a few colonists cope with so powerful a nation? 



60 THE IROQUOIS 

On the other hand the Americans represented that the Six 
Nations had r.o part in the quarrel and should remain 
neutral, and then it would matter not which party 
might win, their lands would be safe. But the Indian's 
horizon, bounded onl}^ by his tribal relations, could not 
understand tl:e rights and justice of nations. He loved 
war, and treacherous by nature, he preferred always to 
be on the winning side. He feared also that if the 
Americans should win he would lose his hunting 
grounds by the onward movement of the settlers. Al- 
ready the fur bearing animals were growing .scarce or 
disappearing altogether. Great sections of their land, 
the home of their forefathers, had been bargained away 
by their chiefs for a few paltry trinkets. It was natur- 
al that the Indian would seek vengeance on those whom 
he found occupying these lands. And it seemed the 
weaker and more helpless the victim, the greater the 
cruelty displayed by Indian nature. In the face of all 
these difficulties how^ could the colonists hope to win 
over the Six Nations to neutrality? And yet their ef- 
forts met with partial success. In Schoolcraft's His- 
tory of the Indian Tribes we read that "The Mohicans, 
of Stockbridge, ranged themselves on the side of the 
Americans, and performed good service as scouts 
throughout the contest. The Oneidas did the same. 
The voice of the poptilar chief, Shenandoah, w^as heard 
in favor of the rising colonies; and the watchful and 
quick eye of Attatea, known as Colonel Louis, carefully 
noted the approach of evil footsteps during the great 
struggle of 1777. and gave ever}^ da}' the most reliable 
information of the march and position of the enenty. ' ' 
To the foregoing might be added at least a part of the 
Tuscaroras, w^ho were influenced by the Rev. Kirkland, 
a resident for many years among the Oneidas, and one 
small clan of the Mohawks at the lower castle. All 
the rest of the Six Nations aided the English. Their 



THE REVOLUTION 61 

military skill and their knowledge of the country allied 
with great native cunning and treachery made them the 
most dreaded foe with which the Americans ever con- 
tended. Circumstances brought the Iroquois under 
that very capable guerilla leader, Thyendanagea, better 
known as Joseph Brant, who had been brought up un- 
der the direction of Sir Wm. Johnson. Schoolcraft 
says ** he hated the Americans as Attila did the Ro- 
mans." 

Sir Wm. Johnson died suddenly in 1774 at just the 
time he was so much needed b}- the English in shap- 
ing the Indian policy to the advantage of the mother 
country. "He disappeared from the scene of action 
at a critical period, when, to employ an Indian alle- 
gory, two thunder clouds, black with anger, seemed 
rushing into conflict, leaving no one of sufficient ca- 
pacity to cope with or control the storm. Great 
Britain had lavished on him the highest honors, and 
he was held in the highest respect by the Indians." 
Continuing, Schoolcraft says, "Those who have inves- 
tigated the proceedings and the character of Sir John 
Johnson, of Guy Johnson his deputy, of Colonel Claus, 
and of the various subordinates, who thenceforth con- 
trolled the direction of Indian affairs, have arrived at 
the conclusion, that this important interest was man- 
aged in a bad way, if their object was to serve the 
Crown. The encouragement of murders and massacres 
was well calculated to arouse the deepest hostility of 
the colonists, and to cement them in the closest bonds 
of unity against the oppression of the British yoke. 
Numbers of persons, previously lukewarm in their 
cause, were driven to take an active part in the con- 
test b}^ deeds of blood and Indian atrocity. The sev- 
eral conferences, held in the office of the British De- 
partment, during the years '75 and '76, proved the in- 
capacity of Sir William's successors to control great 



62 THE IROQUOIS 

events. The Six Nations were, as a body, the friends 
of the British, and did not like to see their officials, in 
public councils, and by public letters to committees 
and corporations, palliating or denying acts which they 
had secrectly approved, and had stimulated them to 
perform." The patriots had no faith in the kindly 
intentions of Guy Johnson, and Washington wrote a 
letter to Schuyler saying "watch the movements of 
the Indian Agent, Colonel Guy Johnson, and prevent, 
so far as you can, the effect of his influence, to our 
prejudice, wuth the Indians." Johnson well knew 
that his every movement was watched and he heard 
frequent rumors that a body of patriots was coming to 
arrest him. He sent a letter to the Oneidas stating 
this and asking them for the sake of old friendship to 
come to his aid. This letter was intercepted and fell 
into patriot hands. The Rev. Kirkland was urged to 
use his influence to turn the friendship of the Oneidas 
from the English to the colonists. Brant, who was 
Johnson's secretary, had a dissolute sachem prefer 
charges against Mr. Kirkland to Johnson with the ob- 
ject of getting the missionary removed. The Oneidas 
rallied to the support of their pastor and Brant was 
baffled for the time being, although later, as it appears 
from Mr. Kirkland' s letters, Johnson ordered him not 
only to remain awa}^ from the Oneidas, but not even to 
speak to them. Johnson arrested travelers on their way 
up the Mohawk and searched them to see that they did 
not carry messages to the Indians. All this time he 
was in active correspondence with the committees of 
Try on county, and to other patriots claiming that 
he was unjustly persecuted. 

In May a council of the Mohawk Chiefs was held at 
Guy Park, a beautiful spot on the Mohawk river. 
This was attended by the committees of Albany and 
Try on counties. Little Abraham, wno seems to have 



THE KEVOLUTION 6S 

beeu the leading Mohawk Chief at this time, was the 
principal speaker. Among other things he said that 
•'the Indians did not wish to have a quarrel with the 
white people, nor did they wish to have their suppl}^ 
of powder cut off. If it is we shall distrust you, we 
are willing to communicate with you in the presence 
of our Superintendent." It was evident from his 
speech that they were wholly under the influence of 
Johnson. As the Western Indians, who had been in- 
vited, w^ere not present at this council, the Superinten- 
dent called another to take place farther west at 
Crosby's Manor. In June of this year a letter was ad- 
dressed to Johnson asking him to use his influence to 
keep the Indians from committing depredations, and 
to hold themselves neutral from a contest that in no 
wise concerned them. This letter pointed out to him 
the risk he ran, as owner of a great estate in that lo- 
cality, of calling upon himself the enmity of his neigh- 
bors. Johnson's reply to this letter threw the blame 
of the existing state of affairs on the colonists. He 
showed why he had been compelled to fortify his resi- 
dence and he denied having stopped travelers on their 
journey except in the case of two New Englanders. 
He did not hold the council at Crosby's Manor, but 
moved his retinue to Fort Stanwix. This caused no 
small speculation and concern on the part of the patriot 
settlers of the Mohawk Valley. After a short respite 
he moved still farther West to Ontario where he held 
a conference with the Indians uninterrupted by the 
whites. He was much annoyed that supplies and 
messages were constantly intercepted while being con- 
veyed to him. It was from this place that he wrote a 
letter to Mr. I^ivingston burning with loyalty, and 
filled with complaints of Herkimer and other patriots 
who had interfered with his affairs in the Mohawk 
Valley. He also stated that his conference with the 



^64 THE IROQUOIS 

Indians was perfectly satisfactory to himself, he hav- 
ing convened 1 340 warriors. There was also present 
at this council his Secretary, Brant, and the noted 
Butler and his son Walter. There was present of the 
.Six Nations at least the Senecas, Ca3^ugas and some of 
the Mohawks who had not emigrated to Canada. 
When we consider the close alliance that had existed 
between the Iroquois and the British for more than 
100 years, we wonder that Johnson did not have more 
influence with the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. This 
council served to alarm the whole of the Mohawk 
Valle3% and Herkimer wrote that he had positive in- 
formation that Johnson would soon moi^e down the 
river, and beginning just below Little Falls, would de- 
vastate the entire region eastward. The fact that Sir 
John had remained at Johnson Hall backed by a large 
following of loyalists lent color to this report. Some 
preparations for defence were made, but it was soon 
learned that Johnson had gone to Oswego where he 
drew up a treaty with the Indians. A little later, ac- 
■companied by several Iroquois chiefs, he journeyed to 
Montreal, evidently for the purpose of getting the in- 
fluence of Sir Guy Carleton to firmly cement the friend- 
ship of the Indians to the Crown. It was at the con- 
ference at Oswego, according to Lossing, that Johnson 
invited the Six Nations to 'feast on a Bostonian and 
drink his blood." Stone also mentions this in his Life 
of Brant. Although it was a figurative speech, it was 
taken up by the patriots as a sort of battle cry to 
.arouse the passons of their more lukewarm neighbors. 
To attempt to counteract the influence of the John- 
sons' and if possible to keep the Six Nations neutral 
in the impending struggle a commission of five men 
was appointed to treat with the Indians. General 
Philip Schuyler was a member of this committee. An 
assembly was soon called at Albany where many 



THE REVOLUTION 65 

speeches were made both b}- members of the committees 
and by the leading orators among the Indians. One 
of these was Little Abraham. In the main his speech 
was pacific. He however complained that the colonists 
had taken two large sections of land from the Mohawks 
for which they had not payed "so much as a pipe." 
He demanded that these be restored, for "if they are 
not and you win in this contest, you will take us by 
the arm and pull us all off." A pretty true prophecy 
of what did occur in after years. Little Abraham 
claimed that at the Oswego Council Johnson advised 
the Indians to remain neutral. This was a great sur- 
prise to the commissioners as it did not well accord 
with Johnson's actions, nor with the silent prepar- 
ations which Sir John was making at the old residence 
on the Mohawk. He was surrounded by a sort of body 
guard of Scotch retainers who had settled on his lands 
in and about Johnstown. In Campbell's Annals we 
read that committees were appointed to "keep an eye 
on Sir John and his doings. ' ' It was one of these that 
deposed Sheriff White and lodged him. in jail at Al- 
bany. 

The Whigs declared that Sir John was in communi- 
cation with Guy Johnson in Canada, and that powder 
w^as furnished the Indians from that source. Finally 
it was determined to ascertain just where Sir John 
stood in the war, and a committee was sent to ask 
whether they might have the free use of the Court 
House and whether he would permit the Scotch settlers 
to form into companies in the patriot service. Sir 
John replied that he never prevented their use of the 
court house nor the Scotch from enlisting in the patriot 
service. But as for himself ' 'he would not lift his hand 
against the King even to prevent his head from being 
cut off." 

When it v.'as learned from one Council that a large 



66 THE IROQUOIS 

amount of ammunition had lately been received at 
Johnstown, Congress ordered General Schuyler to pro- 
ceed at once to that place and disarm and intimidate 
the Loyalists. It was thought proper to inform the 
Mohawks of the Lower Castle, who according to Stone, 
had not been drawn away by Brant, of this order. 
The Mohawks were displeased and showed great love 
and anxiety for Sir John. General Schuyler did not 
wait for the return of the messenger but marched at 
once towards Johnstown. At Schenectady he met 
Little Abraham who made a long speech, the under 
current of which showed much dissatisfaction that the 
patriot army was marching into the country of the Six 
Nations, and he urged upon Schuyler to be careful 
what he was doing. The General made a long speech 
to them which seemed satisfactory. He told them that 
their representatives might be present at the interview 
with Sir John. 

There were constant additions to his forces 
during the next day till he had about 3000 followers. 
Before reaching Johnstown he was met by Sir John 
who agreed to deliver up all arms except what he need- 
ed for his personal use; that the Scotch Highlanders- 
should do the same. He was asked to give up all 
property intended for the Indians that the patriots 
might divide the same among them, but he denied 
having any. Sir John was liberated on parole with 
the agreement that he was to go no farther w^est than 
the Flats, but east and south as far as he might choose, 
but not to go to any seaport town. 

The amount of ammunition and arms was exceed- 
ingly small, and it turned out that Council was an im- 
postor./ Schuyler had much trouble to preserve order 
in «auen a collection of undisciplined militia. Sir John, 
did not keep his word but either directly or indirectly 
used his influence to excite the Indians to hostilities^ 



THE REVOLUTION 67 

.Schuyler learning this sent Colonel Dayton with a part 
of a regiment to arrest him. But when the Colonel ar- 
rived at the Hall he found that Sir John with a large 
number of his retainers and some disaffected loyalists 
were on their way to Canada. Dayton examined all 
the papers that he could find among Sir John's effects 
and took Lady Johnson a prisoner to Albany. Stone 
tells us there is some reason for thinking that a party 
of Mohawks was sent from Canada to bring Sir John 
out of the neighborhood of Johnstown. Be this as it 
may, he and his followers reached Canada in a sorry 
plight. For fear of falling in with the patriots he was 
obliged to strike through the forests where he was 
much delayed in the tangled underbrush. One by one 
members of the party became exhausted and were left 
to be brought in by Indians engaged in the British ser- 
vice. When they were once more united, they were 
formed into a company under Sir John as Colonel in 
the British army and were known as the "Royal 
Greens." Tories fleeing to Canada were added to this 
company from time to time. This partisan band was 
actuated by such hatred of their old neighbors that 
they performed some of the most dastardly deeds ever 
committed by any body of civilized men. 

In the latter part of the year 1775 Brant went to 
England, doubtless to see for himself the strength of 
the mother country, before committing himself to a 
policy that might be the ruin of his nation if the patri- 
ots should win. It is thought by Stone that Guy 
Johnson accompanied him on this voyage. He received 
marked attention from all classes and promised as head 
man of the nation to enlist 3000 Iroquois warriors in 
the British cause. He returned by way of New York 
and made a journey as best he could through a hostile 
population to Canada. He took the field on his ar- 
rival and was present at the unfortunate affair of the 



68 THE IROQUOIS 

"Cedars" where Major Butterfield made his cowardly 
surrender. 

- ,; The Continental Congress continued their efforts to 
win over the Indians and met a deputation of them at 
Philadelphia when an Onondaga Chief conferred upon 
President Hancock the name of the "Great Tree." In 
Spark's Life of Washington we read that Congress 
finally decided to enlist the Indians in the patriot cause, 
and offered a reward for every British officer that they 
might bring in. General Schuyler was strongly op- 
posed to this resolution saying that the Indians could 
not be relied upon in a time of pressing emergency. 
From "time immemorial" the Great Council Fire at 
Onondaga had been kept brightly burning, but for some 
reason never known to historians it was extinguished, 
according to Stone, either in the last part of 1776 or in 
January of 1777. At the time many Onondaga war- 
riors perished together with two principal Sachems. 
Perhaps the only reliable information which we have 
of this event so momentous to the Six Nations is found 
in an old letter among the papers of General Herkimer. 
During the middle of the year 1777 a band of Mo- 
hawks led by their chief went to Unadilla and asked 
for food, saying that if it were not given them they 
would take it by force. They declared themselves in 
favor of the Great King. This showed the settlers 
what they had to fear and they began to collect at 
Cherry Valley and some of the older settlements. 
Brant was collecting his forces at Oghkwaga, so Gen- 
eral Herkimer determined to march a small company 
to this place evidently with the determination of learn- 
ing Brant's intentions. Pie was told by this cunning 
leader that the Indians were pledged to the King and 
that as the Indians had formerly fought the whites 
united they had nothaig to fear now that the whites 
were quarreling anij.ig t..ems^lv.-s. A t^r tlii.. con 



THE REVOLUTION (;0 

ference Brant united his forces with those of Johnston 
and Butler. One of his' first expeditions Was to go to 
Cherry Valley with the hopes of making captures of 
prominent persons. But the place appeared to be forti- 
fied so the Indians laid in ambush near a bend in the 
road where they w^ere concealed in the thick under- 
growth. In the evening they w^aylaid, and scalped 
Lieut. Wormwood, who had just borne dispatches to 
Cherry Valley, and took his companion prisoner. The 
dispatches which fell into the hands of Brant deceived 
him as to the real strength of the place and he retired 
without doing any more injury. 

SIKGE OF FORT SCHUYLKR. 

As the summer advanced rumors came to the settle- 
ments that Colonel St. Leger was at Oswego collect- 
ing a large force of Tories and Indians to capture the 
forts and to destroy the crops and buildings in the Mo- 
haw^k valley and then unite with Burgoyne in the vi- 
cinity of Albany. He had w^ith him the Royal Greens 
of Sir John and nearly looo Indians under Brant. He 
followed the old route up the Oswego river to the 
junction of the Seneca and Oneida to the lake, and 
along wood creek to Fort Stanwix. Before reaching 
here his force was augmented by other bodies of In- 
dians, principally Cayugas and Onondagas. The 
fortress was in a dilapidated condition and was com- 
manded by one of the bravest officers in the whole 
patriot army, colonel Gansevoort, with Colonel Willett 
second in command. The latter had just been sent to 
the help of this weak position. St. Leger, on march- 
ing from the forest into the clearing arranged his line 
of march so as to make the greatest possible display of 
his troops, hoping thus to frighten the little garrison. 
He had not yet learned that the American soldier is ■ 
not frightened by mere display. The British Colonel 
made the investment complete. He placed his artillery 



70 THE IROQUOIS 

on the south; Sir John's followers occupied one bank 
of the Mohawk while the Indians prowled through 
the adjoining forests w^atching every avenue. Death 
was certain to every one venturing many yards out- 
side of the works. Even children who happened to 
be captured were inhumanly treated. St. I^eger is- 
sued a pompous proclamation which affected neither 
the settlers nor the garrison. His artiller>^ was able to 
do but little damage. The garrison had provisions 
sufficient for six weeks, and ammunition for their small 
arms, but were sadly deficient in cannon. For a flag 
they sewed together strips of w^hite shirts, and blue 
from a captured cloak, while the red was made up from 
odds and ends found about the fort. What they lack- 
ed in equipment they made up in courage, resolved to 
hold out to the last well knowing that to surrender 
was to die the most cruel death tnat the savage could 
devise. 

When the news reached the settlements that St. 
Leger was about to start on his march toward the east 
consternation seized upon all. But w^hen he began to 
approach Fort Stanwix their courage returned and 
they responded readily to the call for volunteers to go 
to the aid of Colonel Gansevoort. The country turned 
out almost to a man, and Herkimer soon found him- 
self at the head of nearly looo troops all eager to push 
on to Fort Stanwix. Ariving at Oriskany a messenger 
was sent forward to apprise Gansevoort that succor 
was at hand. His arrival at the fort was to be an- 
nounced by three successive discharges of cannon. 
The message was delayed till late the following morn- 
ing and General Herkimer did not think it prudent to 
advance until re-inforcements came up; besides he 
wished to act in conjunction with Colonel Willett who 
was to make a sortie from the works. Brant had 
learned that Herkimer was on his w^ay to relieve Fort 



THE REVOLUTION 71 

Stanwix, and, knowing the country between that place 
and Oriskany he called into requisition all his knowl- 
edge of Indian warfare and of lying in ambush. The 
-lay of the land was exactly suited to this sort of fight- 
ing. About two miles from Oriskany where the road 
crossed the river there was a swamp on either hand 
crossed by a causeway. Above the swamp were hills 
crowned with virgin forests. Here Brant skillfully 
hid his Indians in a semi-circle and waited for Herki- 
mer and his men. 

While Herkimer was waiting for re-inforcements or, 
at least knowledge that a sortie had been made from 
the bevsieged fort, his officers became eager to press for- 
ward. In vain the staunch old general urged the pro- 
priety of delaying. High words ensued. Many of 
the officers accused him of disloyalty, some even call- 
ing him a Tory and a coward. Herkimer retorted by 
telling them they would be the first to run should they 
suddenly meet the enemy. At last, losing his patience, 
he gave the order to "march on." The troops rushed 
forward in files two deep with an advance guard and 
flankers on either side. All unconscious of danger the 
van guard entered the ambuscade when suddenly the 
entire forest seemed alive with savages. Blood curd- 
ling yells sounded on every hand, and almost immedi- 
ately the circle was completed in the rear cutting off 
all retreat. 

Colonel Vischer's regiment and the baggage train 
were just entering the ravine, when, hearing the firing 
they fled leaving their companions to their fate. They 
were pursued by the Indians for a long distance and 
many of them either captured or killed, a just retribu- 
tion to a command and its leader who would desert 
companions in a time of great peril. They fulfilled 
Herkimer's prophecy of a few hours before, and paid 
the penalty of their cowardice. Herkimer's men fell 



72 THE IROQlJUlS 

around him like autumn leaves before a gale. His 
horse was shot under him and his leg was shattered by 
the same ball that killed his horse. At almost the 
same time Colonel Cox and two of the captains fell 
mortally wounded. From nearly every tree darted an 
Indian to tomahawk and scalp the wounded. Amid 
this scene of carnage, which promised the utter exter- 
mination of his army, Herkimer preserved his usual 
self control. Seated on his saddle, with his back 
against a tree, this heroic Dutchman calmly smoked 
his pipe and gave orders for the conduct of the battle. 
The battle raged thus for some time when the enemy 
made a charge. Never was a charge withstood under 
more trying circumstances, and never was greater cour- 
age displaj^ed than these farmer soldiers showed at that 
time. Both sides fought like tigers while above the 
din of battle sounded the dreadful yell of the Indians. 
The provincials were fighting for their homes and 
their country. Suddenly a heavy shower broke upon 
the combatants and arrested the progress of the fight. 
During the lull the patriots arranged themselves on 
more advantageous ground, placing two men behind a 
tree instead of one man as heretofore. When the 
action first began it was observed that whenever a man 
fired his gun, before he could re-load, an Indian would 
dart forward and tomahawk him. Under the new dis- 
position one man reserved his fire much to the disad- 
vantage of the Indian who attempted his former tactics. 
Disgusted with this mode of fighting, and suffering 
great loss of numbers, the Indians were about to with- 
draw from the fight when they were re-inforced by 
Major Watts with a detachment of the Royal Greens. 
Many of these were acquaintances and neighbors of the 
militia who sprang forvv^ard to meet thisnevv^ foe, while 
the pent up hatred of these neighbors showed itself in 
one of the fiercest hand to hand fights recorded in the 



THE REVOLUTION V.'V 

annals of American History. Stone tells us "that 
they fought each other with knives, some even dying 
in each others embrace." At this time a firing was. 
heard in the direction of the fort. Colonel Butler 
hearing it seized the opportunity to deceive, the Pro- 
vincials, by sending toward them a company of the 
Royal Greens who wore caps similar to those worn by 
the militia. At first the Provincials did not see their 
green coats and thought that help was at hand, but on 
a nearer approach the ruse was discovered and the 
fight was again renewed. One of the militiamen was 
so much deceived that he went up to shake hands with 
one of the tories, a neighbor whom he supposed was a 
friend. He was instantly taken prisoner, but in the 
struggle w^hich followed, another militiaman rushed 
forward and struck down his captor and freed him. 
This second man was then attacked by three of the 
Tories w^ho felled him to the ground. He received 
two severe bayonet wounds, yet he succeeded in drag- 
ging one of these men down upon him, when the pros- 
trate Provincial stabbed the Tory, who was uppermost,, 
in the side, while others came and rescued the gallant 
patriot from his assailants. Such was the struggle be- 
tween old neighbors and acquaintances. 

The Tories and Indians finding their numbers de- 
pleted, and hearing fighting in the rear suddenly re- 
treated leaving the Provincials masters of the field. 

As soon as the heavy showier would permit, Colonel 
Willett with two hundred and fifty volunteers rushed 
from the fort and attacked the camp of Sir John. So< 
sudden and unexpected was the rush that Sir John did 
not even have time to put on his coat which he had 
taken off because of the heat. Colonel Willett and his- 
men drove the Tories at the point of the bayonet out 
of their camp and across the Mohawk. They captured 
several wagon loads of camp equipage which 



74 THE IROQUOIS 

they sent back to the fort. Stone says "among the 
spoils were clothing, blankets, stores, five British 
standards and the baggage of Sir John, with all of his 
papers. ' ' The Provincials swept through the camp of 
the Mohawks and returned to the fort without the loss 
of a man. 

Thus ended one of the most fiercely contested 
battles of the Revolution. Schoolcraft gives the num- 
ber of Indians slain as one hundred, thirty-six of whom 
were Senecas. This tribe had been induced to join in 
the expedition by a liberal use of liquor and promises 
that they w^ere not to fight but to look on and smoke 
their pipes while the others did the fighting. But at 
the battle of Oriskany they found themselves in a po- 
sition where they were * 'compelled to fight for their 
lives; and in the end of the battle were completely beat- 
en with a great loss of killed and wounded. ' ' The 
narrative of Mary Jemison says that, when they return- 
•ed to their towns and reported their great losses, 'the 
mourning was excessive and was expressed by the 
most doleful yells, shrieks, bowlings, and by inimit- 
able gesticulations." 

The unfortunate prisoners were the first with their 
blood to administer to their spirit of revenge. Indeed 
it was common report that the British officers connived 
at, if they did not consent to the most cruel and bar- 
barous massacres of many prisoners. 

After the battle General Herkimer's troops made 
litters upon which they carried many wounded com- 
rades down the river to their homes. General Herki- 
mer was conveyed to his home below Little Falls 
where he died a few days later from an unskillful am- 
putation of his leg. Thus passed aw^ay one of the 
truest patriots of his day, a man whom the struggling 
patriots could ill afford to lose. "If Socrates died like 
a philosopher, and Rousseau like an unbelieving senti- 



THE REVOLUTION 75 

-mentalist, General Herkimer died like a Christian 
liero." 

After the Battle of Oriskany St. Leger used all the 
-means at his command and that his cunning could de- 
-vise to induce the garrison to surrender. He compell- 
ed Colonel Bellinger and Major Frey, who were prison - 
•ers in his camp, to write a letter to Colonel Gansevoort 
greatly exaggerating the loses in the battle of Oriskany, 
.and that in all probability Burgoyne was already in 
Albany. This letter, having no apparent effect on the 
-intrepid colonel, was followed by a verbal message 
:from St. Leger stating in effect that if the garrison 
was not surrendered at once the Indians would be per- 
•niitted to satisfy their revenge upon them as soon as 
Tthe works were captured. Not only that, but the en- 
tire Mohawk valley w^ould be ravaged with fire and 
.^sword. The messenger was emphatically informed 
that such a message was a degrading one for a British 
.officer to send and one which no cultured officer would 
.carry. Failing in this St. Leger issued an appeal to 
the residents of Tryon county urging them to accept 
proposals of peace and to use their influence to induce 
the garrison to surrender. If this were not done, that 
their homes and property would be destroyed, them- 
selves carried into captivity and the entire garrison 
would be killed. Messengers were sent down the val- 
ley with this appeal. The anxiety displayed by St. 
Leger to induce a surrender convinced the besieged 
that the British doubted their ability to capture the 
place, and made them more determined to hold out. 
Colonel Willett, accompanied by a single officer, one 
dark night passed stealthily through the camps of 
Tories and Indians and made his way down the valley 
to General Schuyler's headquarters. At Fort Dayton 
he learned that General Schuyler had ordered General 
.Arnold to go to the relief of Colonel Gansevoort. He 



76 THE IROgU(>IS 

proceeded to Albany and returned within a fe.v days 
with the followers of General Arnold. 

The messengers of St. Leger who had been dispatch- 
ed down the valley with the appeal already mentioned 
stopped with a Tory not far from the present site of 
Herkimer. Here one night while at a secret meeting 
of Tories they were di.scovered and captured. Among 
the rest was Walter Butler who was in the act of mak- 
ing a speech to the assembly when he was arrested. 
At a subsequent court martial he received a death sen- 
tence, but, at the intercession of acquaintances, he 
was sent to prison in Albany from which he escaped 
later and became one of the most cruel leaders in that 
border war. 

Living near Little Falls was a gypsy-like character 
who was the mother of an idiotic Tory by the name of 
Hon-yost Schuyler. The latter was one of the cap- 
tured party spoken of above and had also received the 
sentence of death. When his mother heard of his 
danger she hastened to General Arnold's headquarters 
and pleaded eloquently for her son's life. The general 
yielded to her importunities on condition that Hon- 
yost would cut holes in his clothes to make it appear 
that he had had a narrow escape from the Patriots, 
and spread the report among St. Leger' s troops that a 
large army was rapidly approaching for the relief of 
the garrison. A friendly Oneida Indian was selected 
to aid him in this enterprise, while the condemned 
Tory's brother was retained as a hostage to make sure 
that Hon-yost would carry out the plans. Hon-yost 
and the Oneida approached the camp from different 
directions for the purpose of confirming each others 
report. Hon-yost happened upon a body of Indians at 
just about the time they were holding a pow-w^ow to 
ascertain what would be their future luck in the cam- 
paign. In a very mysterious manner he imparted ta 



THE REVaLUTION 77 

them the news that Arnold was- within a few hours 
march with a large army, "as numerous as the leaves 
of the trees." From another direction came the 
Oneida bearing a belt to the Indians, and confirming 
all that Hon-5^ost had said, but adding that the army 
was coming to attack the British and not the Indians. 
Ever since the battle of Oriskany the Indians had 
shown great dissatisfaction, and a vague rumor was all 
that was needed to cause them to desert. In vain did 
St. Leger assemble their chiefs and urge them to re- 
main. Band after band moved away. The British 
leaders began to quarrel among themselves, when an 
old chief raised the cry "They are coming!" Aw^ay 
went the Red Coats, officers and privates alike. Tents 
were left standing, arms and knapsacks were thrown 
away, and even much of their provisions, artillery and 
ammunition w^ere left to be secured by the colonists. 
The Indians not onh^ enjoyed the confusion into which 
they had thrown St. Leger and his troops, but the}- 
fell upon the small detachments of British soldiers and 
prisoners removed from the main body and murdered 
them in cold blood. 

St. Leger hastened back to Oswego and thence to 
Montreal and later to Lake Champlain to aid Bur- 
goyne. The Tor}- Hon-yost returned to Fort Dayton 
and secured the release of his brother. Not many 
months afterwards he left the country and joined the 
forces of Sir John Johnson. After the close of the 
war he returned to the Mohawk valley where he was 
long known for the part which he played in the relief 
of Fort Stanwix, as well as for his peculiarities. 

RUMORS OF INDIAN AND TORY RAIDS. 

Early in the fall of 1777 the colonists in the Mohawk, 
Schoharie and Cherry valleys were greatly alarmed by 
a report that Johnson and Butler were engaged in rais- 
ing an army to desolate : 11 these disaffected regions. 



78 THE IROQUOIS 

lyater a messenger arrived at Canajoharie and announc- 
ed that Johnson had engaged the services of twenty- 
two Indian nations against the Colonists. A belt was 
sent to the Oneidas to join with them, but if they re- 
fused they were to be the first to feel the effects of the- 
invasion. In a measure to offset these rumors and 
messages an address was sent to the Six Nations with 
a view to win them to neutralit3% if nothing more. 
But the poverty of the country and the lack of presents 
from Congress more than counterbalanced any good 
that may have come from the message. The British 
with an e^^e to business kept the Indians supplied with 
just the things to suit their needs and fancies. These 
appealed to the Indian much more strongly than logic 
or oratory. 

COUNCIL AT JOHNSTOWN. 

The 3^ear 1777 opened with still more extended 
rumors of the union of the great western tribes with 
those of the Six Nations against the colonists. A 
council was called to convene at Johnstown some t ime 
in February to which w^ere invited representatives of 
all the Iroquois. There was a large gathering of 
Oneidas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras, but the Mohawks 
and Cayugas sent a very small number, w^hile the 
Senecas sent a message of surprise saying, "That 
while our tomahawks w^ere sticking in their heads^ 
their wounds bleeding and their eyes streaming with 
tears for the loss of friends at German Flatts, (Oris- 
kany,) the commissioners should think of inviting 
them to a treaty." 

The Oneidas and Tuscaroras convinced the com- 
missioners of the sincerity of their friendship, but it 
was evident that the remaining Six Nations were 
wholly under the influence of British pay and presents. 
Indeed the Oneidas secretly told them that these In- 
dians were under the control of Butltr and would re- 



THE REVOLUTION 79* 

new hostilities in the spring. It was at the time of 
this council that it was proposed to erect a fort at 
Cherry Valley. During the year before, three small 
forts had been erected in the Schoharie valley. At 
the request of the Oneidas it was also ordered to erect 
a fort in their territory. 

RAID IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY 

In the early part of the summer a large party of 
Tories, who had previously fled to Canada, returned 
and secured their families and considerable of their mov- 
able property and returned b}^ way of the Sacondaga and 
Lake Champlain to Quebec. They picked up several 
prisoners on their way and destroyed considerable 
property. 

RAID IX SCHOHARIE VALLEY 

At the opening of this same spring Brant returned 
to his old quarters near Unadilla, while he himself per- 
haps did not murder helpless women and children, yet 
his active mind planned excursions that were carried 
out in all their horrid details, and yet the Tories were 
oftentimes more cruel than the Indians. The historian 
Stone quotes the following story in support of the 
above story. "While a party of hostiles were prowl- 
ing about the borders of Schoharie, the Indians killed 
and scalped a mother, and a large family of children. 
They had just completed the work of death, when 
some loyalists of the party came up and disco leered au 
infant breathing sweetly in its cradle. An Indian 
warrior, noted for his barbarity, approached the cradle 
with his uplifted hatchet. The babe looked up in his 
face and smiled; the feelings of nature triumphed over 
the ferocity of the savage; the hatchet fell with his 
arm, and he was about stooping down to take the in- 
nocent in his arms, when one of the loyalists, cursing 
him for his humanity, thrust it through with his 
bayonet, and, thus transfixed, held it up struggling in 



■30 THE IROQUOIS 

the ag 
Tebel. ' 



the agonies of death, as he exclaimed — "this too, is a 



ERANT BURNS SPRINGFIELD 

It was in this year (177S) that Brant made a descent 
upon Springfield and cax3tured all the men that he 
could find in the place and burnt the entire settlement, 
save one house in which he left the helpless women 
and children. A little later a large part}' of Indians 
were engaged with the Schoharie militia. They were 
victorious and carried away a large amount of plunder, 
and what they could not use they destroyed. But 
cruelty was not always with the Indians and Tories. 
The first blood shed in the beautiful Schoharie valley 
in this war was that of an old Sachem who was cruelly 
Jnurdered by a band of Americans. — [Stone.] 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE WYOMING MASSACRE 

Much has been written and said concerning the de- 
vastation of the beautiful Wyoming Valley; some 
claiming that the Tories were largely the cause of the 
raid and massacre; some that the celebrated Indian 
leader, Brant was the prime mover and instigator; 
others even going so far as to claim that the Provincial- 
ists foolishly accepted a challenge to meet the enemy 
half way. The following account of the battle is taken 
largely from facts collected by that indefatigable search- 
^r after historical data, Stone. 

For a great many years there had been a contention 
between land specalators and settlers as to who had 
the best claim to the land. At just about the time of 
the opening of the Revolution another of these bitter 
feuds sprang up engendering great factional hatred 
at the time that the people should have been 
united against the common foe. Many of the settlers 
who were loyalists fled from the valley, declaring 
that they would be revenged upon the whigs. Early 
in the summer of '78 they conducted John Butler with 
more than a thousand other Tories and Indians into 
this valley. Many of the able bodied men were away 
to the seat of war, leaving only a small company of 
soldiers, old men and boys to oppose this large force. 
The most of the women and children were assembled 
at Fort Forty. The Patriot leader attempted to sur- 
prise the Tories at Fort Wintermoot, but they had 
been apprised of the movement and were prepared. 
The Tories occupied the right and the Indians the left. 
The battle raged furiously for some time when the 
Patriots were commanded to fall back into a better po- 



82 THE IROQUOIS 

sition. The order was mistaken for a retreat and a: 
panic ensued. This was the opportunity looked for by 
the Tories to revenge themselves upon their neighbors. 
Aided by the Indians they fell upon the fleeing Patri- 
ots and slaughtered w^ithout mercy. The Seneca In- 
dians were rewarded with nearly two hundred and 
fifty scalps. A few escaped to the mountains. Dark- 
ness came and lent its horrors to the scene. The un- 
fortunate prisoners were put to the greatest tortures, 
A party of them ^vere bound while a half breed woman 
named Queen Esther murdered them with club and 
tomahawk. The inmates at Fort Forty, who had pass- 
ed the night in the greatest apprehension, surrendered 
on the following morning to Butler with a strong 
promise that their persons and property should be safe. 
But no sooner had the British leader left the valley 
than the Indians who loitered behind began an indis- 
criminate massacre of the few remaining settlers. 
Some escaped to the mountains and made their way 
back to Connecticut. Others perished in a nearby 
swamp. Not a building was left standing. Crops, 
fences, fruit trees, in short everything that would glad- 
den the eye of the colonists or supply the necessities of 
life was laid waste. Lossing says ' 'The details of the 
desolation of the beautiful Wyoming valley and of the 
horrors of the flight of the survivors of the massacre 
form one of the darkest chapters in human history. ' ' 
It so pleased the British Secretary that he praised the 
Indians for the part they played and proposed to direct 
a series of such raids against the several frontier settle- 
ments. 

For a long time it was claimed by writers that Brant 
and his Mohawks were present at the massacre of Wy- 
oming. This the Indian leader and his descendants 
have strenuously denied. 



THE DEVOLUTION 83 

RAID ON COBI.KSKII,I, 

Some time in the spring of this year Brant with a 
large following of Tories and Indians fell upon Cobles- 
kill and destroyed much property and many lives. 
Captain Patrick with a small band of Provincials at- 
tempted to stay their progress but were all killed or 
taken prisoners except four who though badly wound- 
ed, escaped. 

RAID IN SCHOHARIE VALLEY 

Later in the summer a band of Tories and Indians 
went into the Schoharie valley and began to destroy 
property and kill and take prisoners those who came 
in their way. Colonel Vrooman, who commanded the 
little fortress at Schoharie, either could not, or dared 
not attempt to stay their progress. Colonel Harper, 
who happened to be in the fort, was not satisfied to see 
property and lives sacrificed without an effort made to 
prevent it. Alone he made his way through the bands 
of prowling Indians and reached Albany where he se- 
cured a company of soldiers to go to the relief of Scho- 
harie settlers. Early the next morning the enemy 
were surprised by a sudden attack of cavalry and fled 
precipitately. 

Later a scalping party of seven Indians entered this 
valley and made a prisoner of Mr. Sawyer. They 
marched several miles into the forest, and having 
bound their captive laid down to rest. Mr. Sawyer 
feigned sleep, and when his captives, tired with their 
long march, were in deep sleep, he worked the cords 
loose from his wrists, arose quietly to his feet, seized a 
tomahawk and killed six of the sleeping Indians while 
the seventh one escaped. He then returned to his 
home. 

RAID ON HERKIMER 

In the early fall a scout by the name of John Helmer 



8i THE IROQUOIS 

came into the settlements near Forts Dayton and Her- 
kimer with the news that Brant at the head of a large 
party of Indians was within a few miles and would be 
upon them during the night. The news spread rapid- 
ly and soon the excited settlers came hastening to the 
forts bringing their more valuable articles. They had 
no time to prepare for the protection of their grain and 
cattle. The night set in dark and rainy. Brant ar- 
rived at Shoemaker's place where he sheltered him- 
self from the storm, hoping to take the settlers by sur- 
prise at dawn of the following day. In the gray light 
of the early morning the Indians scattered through the 
settlement and at a given signal the work of destruction 
began. Every where were to be seen flames arising 
from burning buildings and the dusky forms of the 
barbarians driving oft' horses and cattle. 

The colonists looked out from Fort Herkimer and 
saw both his season's labor and winter's provisions 
disappear before the torch of the invader. Shortl}^ 
after leaving with their plunder they w^ere pursued by 
a body of militia, but to no purpose. A party of 
Oneida Indians however went to the Unadilla settle- 
ment, burnt several dwellings and recaptured consider- 
able of the booty, besides taking prisoners. 

SETTLKRS INVADE THK INDIAN COUNTRY 

There were stationed in the Schoharie valley several 
regular troops and a company of them determined to 
invade the territory of Brant. By a rapid march they 
entered Unadilla which they found deserted. They 
burned the entire settlement with the only saw mill on 
the river., They hastened to Brant's head quarters, 
Oghkwaga, which had also been hastily deserted. Here 
they found an abundance of provisions stored for 
winter use, with some cattle and furniture. They 
rested for a day or so and then proceeded to lay waste 



THE REVOLUTION 85 

the entire section. They went further down the river 
and destroyed the Indian castle. The campaign lasted 
sixteen days and was one that required much courage 
and hardihood. 

Walter Butler after his escape from confinement at Al- ■ 
bany, went through the Seneca country on his way to 
Niagara. Burning with thoughts of revenge he stirred 
up the ill feelings of the Senecas and succeeded in rais- 
ing a war party with which to desolate the frontier 
settlements in retaliation for his recent indignities. 
On the way he met Brant whom he induced to return 
with his Mohawks, making a total force of nearly seven 
hundred men, 

MASSACRE AT CHERHY VALLEY 

The fort which had been recently built at Cherry 
Valley was commanded by a man not much versed in 
Indian warfare. He was told that a large party of 
rangers and Indians were on the march against his 
post but he refused to believe it, saying that it was 
only an idle rumor. The people urged him to permit 
them to move their effects into the fort, but he allayed 
their fears, and sent out a scouting party to watch for 
any approaching enemy. These scouts made a con- 
siderable journey into the forest, and wearied with 
their day's march, kindled a bright fire and lay down 
to rest. When they awoke they found themselves 
prisoners compelled to furnish information to their 
captors as to the strength and location of the fort and 
principal families of the settlement. Having secured 
all necessary information, they pushed onto within a 
mile of the village where they halted for the night 
concealed by the thick evergreens. Early in the morn- 
ing a traveler rushed into the settlement and warned 
the commander that a large band of Indians was ap- 
proaching. Even then he was incredulous until the ' 
Indians burst upon the settlement, and the work of 



86 THE IROQUOIS 

death began. Whole families were killed or taken 
prisoners. One household were killed while at famih' 
prayers. It is asserted that in many instances the 
Tories were more cruel than the Indians, and that a 
chief of the Mohawks interposed to protect the help- 
less. One man, while working in the field, saw the 
Indians between himself and his house. He fled to 
the woods and thus escaped. When he returned to 
his house he found it on fire and his wife and three 
children killed. Men who had been awa}' from home 
on business returned to find their property destroyed, 
homes in ashes, and their loved ones either murdered 
or carried into captirity. 

Butler and Brant with their captives and plunder, 
marched a long distance into the forests when it was 
decided to send back the women and children, except 
such as it was thought best to retain to effect an ad- 
vantageous exchange of prisoners. Campbell in his 
annals of Tr3'on county tells us that not a single build- 
ing was left in the settlement. All the stores and 
provisions were destroyed, and hardly a living creature 
remained except the few soldiers in the fort, which the 
Indians were not brave enough to capture. This post 
was deserted and the vallej' was a scene of desolation 
until peace came, when the survivors of that terrible 
struggle returned and rebuilt their homes, and culti- 
vated their neglected farms. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE PATRIOTS INVADE THE OXONDAGA COUNTRY 

The early spring of the 3'ear 1779 was made memor- 
able by a campaign against the Onondagas. This 
tribe had pursued a vacillating policy, pretending at 
times to be friendly toward the cause of the Colonists, 
but nearly always working with the British. Rumors 
■of an intended invasion by Brant, who was to be aided 
by the Onondagas convinced the authorities at Albany 
that the time had come when this tribe should be treat- 
ed as enemies; so an expedition was secretly planned 
which set out in the fog of an April m.orning and 
hastened by way of Oneida Lake to their territories. 

The Indians lived in a series of villages along the 
Onondaga creek and had for many years kept the 
national council fire burning. Arriving at the edge of 
the village the Provincials separated into several com- 
panies in order the better to take by surprise the dif- 
ferent villages. But in some unknown manner the 
wily foe had learned of the approach of an enemy, 
and fled leaving everything behind. But few captives 
were taken, while a verj^ large quantity of provisions 
were destroyed, and manj^ guns and rifles were captur- 
ed. Their council house and three entire villages were 
burned, and their horses and cattle were killed. It is 
a disputed point in the historj- of these times whether 
the Onondagas merited such chastisement. But 
when we call to mind the raids that had been made by 
the Tories and Indians upon defenceless settlements, 
and that many of the patriot soldiers had lost friends 
and relatives in these midnight raids, we wonder at 
the clemency they showed in their treatment of the 
Indians who fell into their power. 



88 THE IROQUUlS 

The Oneidas, who had been uniformly on the side 
of the Patriots, or at least neutral in the quarrel, were 
greatly excited over the treatment which their neigh- 
bors, the Onondagas, had received, and sent a messen- 
ger to ask the cause. It was explained to them that 
parties from that nation were constantly on the war 
path and that scalps were found in their castles. If 
these reasons were not satisfactory they should appeal 
to the commissioners at Albany. It does not appear 
that the Oneidas followed up the matter any further, 
and there it dropped. 

DESCENT UPON PALATINE AND STONE ARABIA. 

At the same time that the expedition was being 
made against the Onondagas, a small part}' of western 
Indians entered Palatine where the}' captured a few 
prisoners and drove the frightened people into the fort. 
Seizing several horses they made good their escape. 
A party of Mohawks made a descent upon Stone Ara- 
bia, burned several houses and put to death a number 
of the inhabitants. A wandering party of the western 
Iroquois also entered the Schoharie settlements and 
marched away with prisoners and plunder. So many 
incursions at various points at the same time created 
great consternation and an urgent appeal was made to 
General Clinton for help. Within a short time a large 
force was marched up the Mohawk, much to the re- 
lief of the settlers. 

THE ONONDAGAS SEEK REVENGE 

It is not to be supposed that a strong and warlike 
nation would be frightened into submission at the loss 
of property and villages. The loss of the ancient 
council fire called forth threats of dire vengeance, 
and within a short time three hundred of their fiercest 
warriors were on their way to the east determined to 
wipe out their recent disgraces in the blood of the 



THE REVOLUTION 89 

hated pale face. Their intentions evidentl}^ wcie to 
fall upon Cobleskill and capture it by surprise. But 
the inhabitants, having been warned, sent to Schoharie 
for aid, and soon a detachment of continental troops 
were on their way. On the following morning a small 
band of Indians w^ere seen in the edge of the clearing. 
Nearly the whole force was sent out to give them bat- 
tle. The Indians retreated into the forest and thus 
drew the Provincials into an ambush. Suddenly the 
terrible war whoop sounded on every hand. From 
every tree darted forth an Indian with the deadly tom- 
ahawk and scalping knife. Those who escaped fled 
with the ■ panic stricken inhabitants to the Schoharie- 
kill. Many more of the latter would have perished 
had not a few braver th:in the rest entered a house on 
the road and held the Indians at bay for some time. 
The Onondagas were unable to dislodge them, so they 
set fire to the building and the brave soldiers perished 
in the flames. The entire settlement was destro3"ed^ 
and more than twenty were killed or taken prisoners. 
The Indians, doubtless feeling that they had been 
amply revenged, returned in great triumph to their 
homes. 

MASSACRE AT MINIS INK 

Before the c^ose of the year the ever restless Brant 
planned another attack upon the exposed settlements. 
This time the blow fell upon Minisink in Orange coun- 
ty. At the head of a small band of his Mohawks and 
a few Tories, who were acquainted with the county,, 
he stole upon the sleeping settlement and set many of 
the houses on fire before the inhabitants realized that 
an enemy was near. Several months before the sold- 
iers formerly stationed there had been removed, leav- 
ing the settlement without protection. Panic stricken 
they fled from their burning homes, leaving the in- 



90 THE IROQUOIS 

vaders to riot upon the spoils. They arrived in Gosh- 
en in a pitiable plight. Nearly all had rushed from 
their homes with little or no preparation for such a 
journey. 

The entire settlement was laid waste, crops were de- 
stroyed and cattle driven away, and several people 
were killed or taken prisoners. Brant and his small 
bod}- of followers took what booty they could carry 
and joined the main body of his army. 

Colonel l^usten, who was then at Goshen, set out in 
pursuit of the enemy with about one hundred and fifty 
men. When he learned the numbei of Brant's follow- 
ers, he called a council of war and advised not attack- 
ing the enemy until reinforcements could be obtained. 
But the majority would not listen to prudence and the 
march was immediately resumed. The}' overtook 
Brant near the mouth of Lackawaxen creek. Through 
some lack of tactics the Continentals became separated 
and the Mohawk leader wheeled his men into the gap 
and closed in upon the main body. The Patriots 
fought like demons but were overwhelmed by num- 
bers and nearly all killed. When the order was given 
to retreat a panic ensued and the Indians fell upon 
them and tomahawked all within their reach, not even 
sparing the wounded or the attending surgeons. Only 
thirty escaped of all the number that had so proudly 
left their homes but a short time before bent on revenge. 

Many years afterward the bones of the slain were 
gathered and buried and a neat marble slab was erect- 
ed bearing the names of the victims. In 1862, through 
the generosity of Dr. Cash, a neat monument was 
■erected comemorative of that sad affair. 



CHAPTER XVI 

REV. SAMUEL KIRKLAND. 

Any work touching the history of the Six Nations 
•would be incomplete without, at least, a short account 
•of the most famous missionary among the Iroquois, one 
who did more than any other white man to preserve 
the friendship of the Oneida and Tuscarora Clans for 
the Patriots during their long struggle for political free- 
dom. 

Rev. Samuel Kirkland was well fitted by nature for 
.-a missionary among the Indians. He had great con- 
stitutional strength, and was vivacious, courageous and 
benevolent. Devoted to the cause of the Indian, he 
labored with all the powers of a great and noble mind 
for his conversion. He first went among the Senecas, 
where he remained a year and a half. He made friends 
among them, but few if any converts. Unable to ac- 
complish much among these tribes, he returned east and 
established Joseph Wooley as a teacher among the Mo • 
hawks. They went by way of Cherry Valley to the 
famous Indian village of Onohogkwage, where they 
received a hearty welcome. The Mohawks were de- 
lighted to have a teacher among them, and they prom- 
ised Mr. Kirkland to take good care of Wooley, after 
■which the missionary returned to Johnson Hall, where 
lie remained till mid-winter. Here he made prepara- 
tions to return to the Seneca country. 

Accompained by two Seneca Indians, he set out on 
snow shoes with a forty pound pack of clothing and 
books to traverse that long and perilous trail. Unac- 
customed to such severe exertions, he soon began to 
feel the effects of the journey. His guides went ahead 
and made a snow shoe road for him. At night they 



92 THE IROQUOIS 

would clean away the deep snow and make a fire, near 
which a bed was made of evergreen boughs. As they 
travelled farther west, his sufferings from swollen feet 
and ankles caused by walking on snow shoes, were se- 
vere, and he must have perished had it not been for the 
kindness of his guides. At the principal Oneida vil- 
lage, he remained a short time till he was able to re- 
sume his journey. At Onondaga he was glad to again 
accept the hospitality of the Indians, who assembled 
at their Council house to hear the message of Sir Wil- 
liam to the Senecas. Mr. Kirkland took special pains 
to record that "the Council house was 80 feet long and 
contained four fires. The messenger made a speech 
for three quarters of an hour, and was responded to by 
the head Sachem, who spoke for an hour like Demos- 
thenes. ' ' After the Council broke up, there w^as much 
hand shaking when the party started again late at night 
on their journey to the vSeneca country. Twenty-three 
days after leaving Johnson Hall, foot sore, and almost 
exhausted, he arrived at Kanadasegea, the Capital of 
the Seneca Nation. After discussing the matter in 
two different Councils he was finally adopted by the 
head Sachem and placed in a small family. Shortly 
afterward his host suddenly died. This placed Mr. 
Kirkland in a perilous position, but he finall> won the 
confidence of the Indians. After some time a famine 
occurred and he determined to set out for Johnson Hall 
for provisions. He was accompanied by a Seneca with 
his squaw. They nearly lost their lives on Oneida 
Lake during a severe storm, but finally reached the 
Hall where the Indian woman died, greatly mourned 
by her husband. 

The missionary seems to have been able to accom- 
plish but little among the Senecas. It is to be divided 
that Mr. Kirkland did not write fully concerning. 



THE REVOLUTION 93 

the life of these people at that time. It would have 
given us much historical information which now can not 
be obtained. In the summer of 1766, he began his 
work among the Oneidas, which he continued for fortj^ 
years. Here he built him a home and associated with 
him in his work, David Fowler and his wife, two 
educated Indians. In 1769, he went to New England, 
where he married Miss Jerusha Bingham, a niece of 
Dr. Wheelock. Mrs. Kirkland was a great help to her 
husband and exerted a marked influence over the 
Oneida women. 

When it became evident that there was to be a 
rupture with the mother country, Mr. Kirkland 
travelled from tribe to tribe using his influence to pre- 
serve the neutrality of the Indians. To what extent 
he succeeded has alread}- been mentioned. For about 
two years the Oneidas and Tuscaroras kept out of the 
fight, but later they rallied under the leadership of the 
celebrated Oneida chief— Skenando, and did excellent 
service for the patriot cause. 

This popular chief was a great friend of Mr. Kirk- 
land, and one of the wisest councillors the Six Na- 
tions ever had. He died at the age of no, and was 
buried at Clinton, N. Y., in an orchard on the old 
Kirkland homestead. After the Revolution the mis- 
sionar}' set about to repair the ravages of war, collect 
the scattered families and rebuild their homes. Mrs. 
Kirkland died in 1788, and it was about this time that 
Mr. Kirkland wrote an account of the Six Nations. 

In 1 79 1, he married Miss Mary Donnelly who died in 
Clinton in 1839, aged 84. One daughter married Mr. 
J. H. Lathrop, of Utica; another Mr. Francis Amory, 
of Boston, and a third Dr. Edward Robinson, a pro- 
fessor of Hamilton College. 

Mr. Kirkland made srreat eftorts to found a school at 



94 THE IROQUOIS 

Clinton, and finally secured a charter for Hamilton ^ 
Oneida Academ}'. He gave a large tract of land and 
set apart 12 acres as a site for a school. This com- 
mands an extensive view of the valley and village and 
is now covered with a great variety of trees and shrubs, 
with class memorials and modern educational buildings, 
making it one of the pleasantest college sites to be 
found. Here is also preserved the little, old house in 
which the great missionary lived. 

Mr. Kirkland died in 1808 and was buried in the 
land he helped to win to civilization, with his wife and 
daughter on one side and the "white man's friend," 
Skenando, on the other. 



CHAPTER XVII 
sulIvIvan's campaign 

So frequent had been the forages of the Indians, 
which had always been conducted with much cruelty, 
that it was decided to make an expedition into the 
land of the Iroquois and ''pay them off in their own 
coin. ' ' 

Clinton was ordered to collect a large body of men 
at Schenectady, and transporting boats and provisions 
overland to the head of Otsego lake, to descend the 
Susquehanna and join Johnson at Tioga. The people 
along the Mohawk and in the adjoining sections re- 
sponded nobly to the call for help, and in a few days 
the General was able to report 1500 men, nearly 200 
boats and a large supply of provisions, so many indeed 
that General Washington declared that Clinton would 
be delayed and could not keep his movements secret 
from the Indians. 

A large party of Oneidas had volunteered to join 
the expedition, but on receiving information that they 
would be attacked by the British unless they remained 
neutral they decided to remain at home, except such 
few as might individually wish to act as guides and 
runners. 

While waiting at Otsego lake for orders from Gener- 
al Sullivan, Clinton caused the waters of the lake to 
be dammed up thus enabling him to float his boats 
down the river when the proper time should arrive. 
He was kept impatiently waiting until near the middle 
of August by the slow movement of General Sullivan. 
When, at last, he received word to proceed down the 
river, he embarked his troops and supplies, and letting 
out the waters from the lake, was borne rapidly on the 



00 THE IROQUOIS 

swollen liver toward the point of juncture with the 
greater part of the expedition. The few scattered 
settlers and the Indians along the river were surprised 
to see their crops swept away by a sudden rise of 
water in the river, and when the latter considered that 
there had been no rain for a long time, they concluded 
that the Great Spirit must be offended with them; 
while the sight of a large flotilla of soldiers riding upon 
the bosom of a river that had never floated anything 
larger than a birch bark canoe struck terror to the 
bravest heart. 

Sometime after the middle of August the united 
commands, 5000 strong commenced their westward 
march to the land of the Cayugas and Senecas. So 
long had General Sullivan been making his prepara- 
tions that the Indians had become apprised of his 
movements and had thrown up earthworks at Newton, 
not far from the present site of Elmira. 

BATTLE OF NEWTON 

The ami}- marched with the greatest caution destro>'- 
ing everything on the route that might in any way aid 
the Indians. Late in the morning of the 29tli the ad- 
vance guard came upon the works of the enemy. 
These had been so arranged that they could be ap- 
proached only in front and on the left flank which 
rested upon a high ridge thickly covered with Indians, 
back of which was another ridge also well guarded. 
A skirmishing was kept up until the main body of the 
army arrived with General Sullivan. He immediately 
sent a brigade to carry the heights and turn the left 
flank of the enemy while he engaged them in front. 
Then was fought one of the most exciting battles re- 
corded in Indian history. The Indians fought for 
their families, their lands and the graves of their 
fathers. They contested the ground inch by inch, 



SULLIVAN'8 CAMPAIGN 97 

springing like panthers from tree to tree, refusing to 
yield even at the point of the bayonet. Brant, "the 
leader of the Indians, seeing that their left flank must 
not be turned at any cost, was everywhere present 
leadmg and cheering his men. The fearful battle cries 
of the Indians and the shrieks of the wounded were 
drowned by the thunder of the cannon in the valley 
below. In a last desperate attempt Brant brought a 
company of Johnson's Rangers to the help of his hard 
pressed followers, but too late. His left flank was 
turned, and the enemy fearing that Sullivan's men 
would get into their rear, raised their crv of retreat 
and fled from the field. So precipitate was their re- 
treat that they could not carry awav all their dead 
with them. TJieir loss in killed and wounded was 
much greater than that of the American army which 
sustained a loss of only six killed and less than 50 
wounded. These together with the heavy artillery 
were sent back to Tioga, while the greater part of the 
army started westward in light marching order. Where- 
ever they came to buildings and growing crops they 
halted long enough to destroy them and then hurried 
on. Why the Indians did not oppose them at some of 
the narrow and difficult passes does not appear. In 
some places they were obliged to ford streams flanked 
by high hills where a few brave men could have delay- 
ed the progress of a large army. 

In a short time they reached Katherine's town at 
the head of Seneca lake. This they laid in ashes, and 
they destro}'ed crops and orchards leaving only a deso- 
late waste. 

CONDITION OF THE SENECAS AND CAYUGAS 

Much has been written both for and against Sulli- 
van's expedition. The Cayugas and Senecas had 
reached a good degree of civilization. They had clear- 
ed large tracts of land 0:1 which they raised crops that 



98 THE IROQUOIS 

would gladden the heart of any farmer. They had 
excellent orchards of apples, pears, and peaches. They 
had large towns and villages, many of them laid out 
in streets, and composed of framed houses, often paint- 
ed, and containing many of the necessities of civilized 
life. The only advantage that the Americans could 
hope to attain by the destruction of these homes was 
to deprive the Indians of the means of subsistence for 
the coming winter and thus throw their support upon 
the British at Niagara. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE SENECA CAPITAL 

Every where the terror stricken Indians fled before 
Sullivan's army. In a short time they reached the 
beautiful Seneca capital, Kanadaseagea, surrounded by 
large fields covered with crops and fruit orchards. The 
inhabitants had fled leaving their winter supplies, their 
orchards, the product of years of toil, their comfortable 
homes, to the mercies of a revengeful invader. Several 
towns in this locality were destroyed, and the army 
left in its track only scenes of destruction and devasta- 
tion. The towns of Kanandaigua and Honeoye were 
wiped out together with great stores of grain, vegeta- 
bles and fruit. From this place preparations were 
made to march upon Genesee, the large village of the 
tribe. 

BATTLE OF GENESEE. 

Here the Indians placed their women and children 
out of reach of the Americans and prepared to defend 
their town. A sharp skirmish ensued when the 
Indians suddenly turned and fled. The soldiers were 
greatly pleased with the beauty and fertility of the 
Genesee valley. Sullivan in his report said "The 
town of Genesee contained 128 houses, mostly large 
and very elegant. It was beautifully situated, almost 
encircled with a clear flat, extending a number of 
miles, over which extensive fields of corn were waving, 



SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN 99 

together with every kind of vegetable that could be 
conceived." After quoting the foregoing, the histor- 
ian Stone goes on to say, "But the entire army was 
immediately engaged in destro3dng it, and the axe and 
the torch soon transformed the w^hole of that beauti- 
ful region from the character of a garden to a scene of 
drear and sickening desolation. Forty Indian towns,, 
the largest containing 128 houses were destroyed. 
Corn, gathered and ungathered, to the amount of 
160,000 bushels, shared the same fate; their fruit 
trees were cut down ; and the Indians were hunted 
like wild beasts, till neither house, nor fruit tree, nor 
field of corn, nor inhabitant, remained in the whole 
country. The gardens were enriched wath great quan- 
tities of useful vegetables, of different kinds. The size 
of the cornfields, as well as high degree of cultivation 
in which they were kept, excited wonder; and the ears 
of corn were so remarkably large, that many of them 
measured twenty inches in length. So numerous were 
the fruit trees, that in one orchard they cut down 
fifteen hundred." From this point General Sullivan 
seems to have turned back, retracing his steps over the 
devastated district to Tioga. On the route he sent 
detachments to the small villages and fields lying 
several miles from the main traveled road. On these 
raids 9 towns and villages, including the capital of the 
Cayugas, were destroyed, besides great quantities of 
provisions, and large numbers of fruit trees. 

Why General Sullivan did not continue his journey 
to the seat of British power among the Indians at 
Niagara, from which Tory and Indian raids w^ere so 
frequently made, has never been satisfactorily explain- 
ed. Certainly this was one of the objects which the 
commander-in-chief had in view when he ordered the 
organization of the expedition. It could not have been 
because of the weakness of his army. He had fought 

LofC. 



100 THE IROQUOIS 

no great battle, except at Newton, and his soldiers had 
enjoyed excellent health. Niagara was in no condi- 
tion to withstand an attack, and had no time to bring 
reinforcements from Montreal or Quebec. Finall}' it 
could not be lack of provisions for his soldiers destro}- 
ed enough to have sustained an army many times its 
size during a much longer campaign. To be sure he 
brought the hardships of war home to those who had 
made so many raids against the white settlers; but 
instead of subduing them he only aroused them to a 
greater frenzy for revenge. Stone says "Stimulated 
b)^ a yet keener thirst for revenge, clouds of savages 
were afterward again and again seen to .sweep through 
the valley of the Mohawk with the scalping knife and 
the torch." And who can blame the red man then 
"driven from his beautiful country, his habitations 
laid in ruins, his fields laid waste, his orchards 
uprooted, his altars and the tombs of his fathers over- 
thrown. ' ' 

ARRKST OF THE MOHAWKS AT THE LOWER CASTLE 

When the Johnson's and other Tories influenced the 
Mohawks to accompany them to Canada, there was 
one clan which refused to accompany them. This clan 
lived at the Lower Castle on the Mohawk river, on 
terms of friendship with their white neighbors, pre- 
serving a strict neutrality. General Sullivan had 
been informed that these Indians were acting as spies 
and secretly aiding and encouraging those Tories and 
Indians who were making frequent raids into the 
Mohawk and Cherry \^alleys. 

On the return march he ordered Colonel Gansevoort 
to proceed down the Mohawk valley and capture the 
entire clan, burn their castle and carry them prisoners 
to Albany. When the Colonel arrived in the neigh- 
borhood of the castle he learned that the Indians were 
even then sheltering those \^hite people who had 



SlLLiVAN'S CAMPAKJN 101 

recently been deprived of. their home^ by Indian and 
Tory raids. The inhabitants of the frontier begged 
him not to destroy the property of the clan, consisting 
of homes as convenient as many owned by the white 
settlers; of stores of provisions, and of cows, horses 
and wagons. However the Colonel carried them all 
captives to Albany where General Schuyler procured 
their release. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE ONEIDA CASTLE 

The winter which followed the invasion of Sullivan 
has come down in history as one of the most severe 
known to have occurred on this continent. The Indians 
whose property had been destroyed were compelled to 
seek food and shelter of the British at Niagara. A 
great many fell sick, and not a few perished from 
hunger and exposure. 

Some time during this winter the Indians and Tories 
made a raid against the Oneidas, destroyed their vil- 
lage and castle, and drove them down the Mohawk 
where the colonists settled them near Schenectady 
and supported them to the close of the war. Dr. 
Kirkland said that "this dispersion of the Oneidas, 
and the devastation of their country, v/ere greatly det- 
rimental to their nation. When the war came on, 
they had attained to some degree of regularity, indus- 
try, and prosperity. But, driven from their homes, 
reduced to want, dependence, and abject poverty, 
their habits became more intemperate and idle than 
ever, and they never recovered from their depression. " 

RAID OF HARPERSFIELD 

Brant, actuated by the strongest feelings of revenge 
on account of the sufferings of his people, began early 
in the spring to prepare for the destruction of the 
frontier settlements. Early in April at the head of a 
band of Tories and Indians he fell upon the settlement 
of Harpersfield and destroyed it, killing a few and 
taking several prisoners. He then set out through the 
forests toward the upper Schoharie fort. He suddenly 
fell in with a small band of militia who were engaged 



INDIAN RAIDS 103 

in making maple sugar while they kept watch for any 
straggling bands of the enemy. When busily engaged 
in their work they heard the appalling war whoop and 
the deadly crack of the rifle. Those who survived the 
first onslaught were taken prisoners. Brant was de- 
ceived into the belief that the fort had recently been 
strongly reinforced, and so he retraced his steps to 
Niagara. The journey was one of great peril to 
the prisoners, and Brant exerted himself to the utmost 
to save their lives from the revenge of his followers. 
Added to this all suffered extremely from the want of 
food. However, many of them lived through the ter- 
rible ordeal and finally returned to their desolate homes. 
As spring advanced, and the snow disappeared, 
roving bands af Indians, often guided by Tories, fell 
upon the exposed settlements in all directions, even 
going as far south as Orange count}-. 

RAID ON LITTLE FALLS 

One of these raids was made upon a settlement near 
what is now the village of Little Falls. The only 
important mills for grinding flour for several miles 
were situated at this place and owned by a Mr. Ellis. 
But few men were at the mills at the time and not pre- 
pared for an attack. They tried to escape, but most 
•of them were taken prisoners, and the property was 
entirely distroyed. 

SIR JOHN JOHSON'S RAID INTO JOHNSTOWN 

When the Johnsons left the country for Canada they 
left a large amount of treasure and several slaves at 
their old home at Johnstown. Sir John determined to 
secure these, and at the same time severely punish 
those whig neighbors who had been the cause of all 
his troubles. One dark night in early spring he enter- 
ed Johnstown at the head of about 250 Tories and 
Indians, while a company of nearly the same number 
were sent to destroy all the dwellings along the 



104 THE IROQUOIS 

Mohawk except those belonging to Tories. The houses 
were phnidered and burned and most of their inhabi- 
tants killed or made prisoners. 

Sir John, avoiding the small garrison, marched to 
his old home, secured 20 slaves, and a large amount of 
treasure, which was carried awa}^ in the knapsacks of 
40 soldiers. He collected also a band of loyalists, after 
which he united his forces and with his prisoners and 
booty returned unmolested to Canada. He wisely 
avoided the usual traveled routes and so the army sent 
by Governor Clinton was unable to capture his forces. 
When we consider that the entire country was panic 
stricken, and that the people cruelly murdered were 
tne old neighbors of Sir John, many of whom had 
rendered acts of kindness to himself and to different 
members of his family, we do not hesitate to place this 
act among the most cruel and bloodthirsty of that ter- 
rible border strife. Stone says, "The irruption, how- 
ever, was one of the most indefensible aggressions 
upon an unarmed and slumbering people, which stain 
the annals of the British arms." 

BRANT DESTROYS CANAJOHARlE 

On the summer following this incursion a large 
supply of provisions was to be sent to Fort Schuyler, 
and, as a rumor had been spread abroad that Brant 
was intending to capture these, all the militia around 
Canajoharie was called out to help protect the escort 
from attack. The wily Indian leader then feU upon 
the defenceless settlements and laid them waste. In 
Almon's Remembrancer we read "that in the Canajo- 
harie settlement 99 buildings were burnt, 17 persons 
killed, and 52 taken prisoners. On the Schoharie 27 
buildings burnt, 7 persons killed, and 21 taken prison- 
ers. At Normanskill there were 20 houses burnt." 
"The forts destroyed by Brant at Canajoharie, were 
built by the people themselves, but had not yet been, 



INDIAN RAII/.S 10-3> 

garrisoned. The inhabitants had complained bitterly 
that they were thus compelled to leave their own fire- 
sides unprotect'^d, to assist the government in re-open- 
ing the communication with Fort Schuyler. But being 
assured that their town could be in no danger, they 
submitted to the order, and their militia marched to 
the upper section of the valley. The result was de- 
plorable enough; while the success of his stratagem 
added another plume to the crest of the ' 'The Great 
Captain of the Six Nations." (Stone.) Sir John John- 
son and Brant, not satisfied with the excursions sepa- 
rately undertaken, determined to unite their forces and 
enter upon a campaign of destruction that would, if 
possible eclipse Sullivan's expedition. 

SIR JOHN AND BRANT UNITE TO DESTROY ALL THE 
VALLEY SETTLEMENTS 
In the summer following the Johnstown expedition, 
Sir John collected a force composed of his Royal Greens, 
a number of Mohawks, a detachment of Butler's 
rangers, and a compau}^ of regulars and ascending the 
St. Lawrence he crossed over the country to the head 
waters of the Susquehanna where he united his forces 
w4th those of Brant and Cornplanter. The}^ were pro- 
vided with excellent arms and a large amount of 
ammunition, and according to the report of Mar> 
Jemison, the Indians never went upon the war path 
vowing deeper vengeance against the usurpers of their 
hunting grounds. From the Susquehanna they 
crossed the hills to the Schoharie Valley. Silently 
passing the upper fort they began the work of destruc- 
tion in the early dawn. Those in the middle fort w^ere 
first apprised of the approach of the enemy by the 
sight of the burning buildings. The commandant sent 
out a company of volunteers, but they soon learned 
that they w^ere opposed by a large body of Indians and 
Tories, when they quietly retreated. The fortress was 



106 THE IROQUOIS 

quickly surrounded, and Sir John planted his little 
battery on a rise of ground commanding the place. A 
flag of truce was sent toward the fort but was fired 
upon by the intrepid Murphy of Schoharie fame. 
Thereupon Sir John began a brisk fire which did no 
special damage. After a time a second flag of truce 
was sent which was again fired upon by Murphy. 
When Sir John could find no other means of access to 
the fort he determined to take it by assault. Having 
arranged his men for that purpose he sent forward a 
third flag of truce which Murphy again drove back. 
All at once the Tories raised the siege and continued 
their march down the river, burning and plundering 
as they went. The crops were unusually large that 
year, and the settlers were entirely unprepared for 
such an invasion, consequently every thing known to 
belong to a Whig was totally destroyed, besides several 
killed and a large number taken prisoners. The 
historian Stone tells us that Sir John had ordered that 
the church at the middle fort should not be destroyed. 
How well his commands were obeyed is shown by the 
following quotation from a paper lead by the Hon. 
Geo. ly. Danforth at the centennial of the Old Dutch 
church at Middleburgh. "And now coming down to 
the terrible but glorious 17th day of October, 1780, 
terrible in its work of destruction and desolation, 
glorious in the perfect defence and triumphant resis- 
tance of the three forts — before the sun begins his 
career that da}^ we hear the boom of the alarm gun at 
the upper fort 5 miles aw^ay, and the guns of our fort 
over there answer, aye, aye! We wait and watch in 
feverish suspense, and soon we see the advance down 
the valley of the British, Tories and Indians, working 
their way by smoke and flame. They reach Weiser- 
dorf; and barns and dwellings, stacks of hay and straw, 
yield to the barbarous torch, and with an additional 



INDIAN RAIDS IO7 

pang of sorrow, we see the lurid flames mount the 
sides and circle the steeple of the old Dutch meetin- 
house, dear to the hearts of the heroic band who 
stand at the middle fort ready to receive, and able to 
roll back the shock and charge of the coming foe " 

Farther down the valley Sir John divided his forces 
setiding the Regulars down the valley while the 
Indians skirted the clearings along the foot of the range 
of hills at the left. They halted but a little while at 
the lower fort, and evidently not being courageous 
enough to make an assault, continued their work of 
devastation as far as Fort Hunter where they encamped 
for the night. There he remained long enough to 
send out small parties in all directions to destroy every 
piece of property that could be found and to secure 
prisoners. When the entire country had become a 
scene of desolation and waste he proceeded up the 
Mohawk completely de.stroying every thing on both 
banks of the river. 

General Van Rensselaer hearing of the invasion of 
the Schoharie valley set out in pursuit. He camped 
but a few miles from Sir John's motley troop, but de- 
layed long enough to allow a detachment of the enemy 
to branch off to the north to attack Fort Paris in Stone 
Arabia This fortress was under the command of 
Colonel Brown who, by the direction of General Van 
Rensselaer, immediately marched with his small troop 
to meet the foe. But the general failed to co-operate 
with him and he and his brave followers were over- 
powered and many were killed. Those who escaped 
fled to Fort Plain. The scattered detachments of Sir 
John's troops continued their work of devastation 
gradually marching towards the west and collecting at 
a place called "Klock's Field." The enemy .selected 
a field of battle so as to be protected on one .side by the 
bend of the river. Sir John's immediate followers 



108 THE IROQUOIS 

were place:! in the front with Brant's Indians on the 
flank. The patriot army numbering now about 1500 
men did not come up with the enemy until late in the 
afternoon when an attack was immediately made. 
The Indians were soon put to flight, but darkness com- 
ing on, the General would not allow a pursuit. The 
next morning Sir John had disappeared. One noted 
historian declares that had the Continental troops kept 
up the fight and pursuit for a short time they would 
have had the enemy completely hemmed in the bend 
of the river where they would have been obliged to- 
surrender. The flying enemy were pursued rapidly as 
far as Fort Herkimer from which point General Van 
Rensselaer sent word to his advance guard of Oueidas 
and militia to continue the pursuit. The Oneida chief, 
finding himself in the rear of the flying enemy, and 
learning that he was not supported by the main part of 
the army turned back, and thus ended what might 
have been a glorious victory for the patriots had the 
campaign been conducted with more energ3\ 

A small company had been sent from Fort Schuyler 
to destroy the boats which Sir John had left to convey 
his troops back to Oswego. Sir John surprised these, 
took them prisoners and proceeded on his way unmo- 
lested. 

The winter which followed brought great distress to 
all the outposts of the north. The Indians and Tories 
had destroyed so many provisions the preceding au- 
tumn that the settlers could scarcel}^ support their 
families. As a result they had but very little to send 
to the army. Brant kept warriors constantly watching 
the Mohawk valley so as to cut off supplies going west 
to Fort Schuyler. No one could travel except under a 
strong escort, without being captured by some band of 
roving Indians. During the late winter and early 
spring Brant captured a number of scouts and no small 



INDIAN RAIDS 10& 

amount of provisions. Added to all this the Oneidas 
were no longer in a safe position, for Brant had shown 
great hatred toward them and was likeh' at an}- time 
to attempt their destruction. 

The courage of the settlers had sunk to its lowest 
point by the repeated incursions of the Tories and 
Indians when Colonel Willett was appointed to the 
command of the militia for the defence of the country 
against the raids of the barbarians. Scarcel}' had he 
entered upon his command before he had an opportuni- 
ty to display his abilities as an Indian fighter. 

DESTRUCTIOX OF CURRIETOWX 

Early in the summer a band of Indians attacked and 
burned the settlement of Currietown and retreated to 
their night encampment in a dense forest. Colonel 
Willett quickly raised a band of volunteers and pro- 
ceeded to surprise them while asleep, but found it im- 
possible to reach them before daylight of the following 
morning. The Indians learning of their approach took 
a more favorable position and waited their appearance. 
A small number was sent in advance to draw out the 
Indians. They fled at the first fire followed by the 
main body of the enemy. These were met by the main 
bod}- of Willett' s men who poured in a deadly fire. 
At the same time the Indians\ triM to turn his right 
wing. Failing in both attempts they betook them- 
selves to trees and attempted Ih^ usual Indian tactics. 
Soon the settlers cheered oir by their gallant leader, 
chased the Indians out of the woods and down the 
Susquehanna at the ponit of the bayonet. Colonel 
Willett' s loss of men was small while the Iroquois lost 
more than an eighth of the number engaged, besides 
all of their camp and plunder. 

LAST INVASION OF THE MOHAWK VALLEV. 

It remains to record the last serious invasion of the 
Mohawk valley by the Tories and Indians. The John- 



110 THE IROQUOIS 

sons and their Tory neighbors were constantly moved 
by a great hatred toward the whig residents of the 
valley, and so were constantly planning for their de- 
struction. In October of 1781 Major Ross assisted by 
Butler and his son suddenly appeared at Warrensbush 
near the junction of the Mohawk and Schoharie rivers 
and began the work of plundering and burning. They 
crossed the river not far from Tribe's Hill and marched 
rapidly towards Johnstown killing and taking Whig 
prisoners and destroying all their property. Colonel 
Willett, learning of the approach of the enemy, made 
every effort to collect the scattered militia. By a 
forced night march he reached Fort Hunter the fol- 
lowing morning. Having forded the river he overtook 
the enemy not far from Johnstown. He divided his 
force into two divisions, and sent Major Rowley by a 
circuitous route to fall upon their rear while he en- 
gaged them in front. The battle had scarcely begun 
when the militia broke and fled, nor was Willett able 
to stop their retreat until they had reached a stone 
church far in the rear. The enemy were rejoicing over 
their easy victory and were busy cutting down and 
scalping stragglers when Major Rowley's division fell 
upon their rear. Another general battle ensued which 
continued till near dark when Willett succeeded in 
reorganizing a company to go to the assistance of their 
companions in arms. The enemy hard pressed on all 
sides maintained a stubborn resistance till dark when 
they broke and fled. 

The brave colonel remained that night upon the 
field of battle endeavoring to relieve the sufferings of 
the wounded. As soon as possible he sent a detach- 
ment to Oneida lake to destroy the boats of the enemy, 
and a scouting party to follow the movements of Ross 
and Butler. The former failed in their undertaking, 
but the latter discovered the course of the fleeing army 



INDIAN RAIDS 111 

and Willett set out in pursuit. He overtook a small 
body of them not far from the northern line of the 
Royal Grant. A sharp fight ensued when some were 
killed, others taken prisoners, while the remainder 
fled. The Patriots pressed on in hot pursuit and over- 
took Butler at Jersey Field, where a short battle was- 
fought resulting in the death of many of the enemy. 
It was in this battle that an Oneida killed the noted 
Tory leader, Walter N. Butler, whose body was left in 
the wilderness without burial. We quote from Stone, 
"So perished Walter N. Butler, one of the greatest 
scourges, as he was one of the most fearless men, of 
his native county. No other event of the whole war 
created so much joy in the Mohawk valley as the news 
of his decease." 

The death of their leader caused a panic among the 
enemy and they fled in all directions not occupied by 
the pursuing Patriots. Night put an end to the pur- 
suit, although it is said that the fleeing Tories did not 
halt until the following day. Colonel Willett left 
them to pursue their dreadful march through the snows 
of a trackless wilderness, nearly loo miles without 
food and without blankets, while he returned in tri- 
umph with a large number of prisoners and with the 
loss of but a single man. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION. 

In the treaty of peaca in '82 Great Britain made no 
stipulation in behalf of the Red Men who had so nobly 
fought for her. Having cast in their fortunes with the 
side which was vanquished, by the usages of war it 
would be expected that the conqueror would deprive 
them of the soil over which they and their fathers had 
roamed so many years. But Washington and Schuyler 
both labored with the authorities of New^ York to give 
them sections of land on which the}' might live per- 
manently subject to the general control of the State as 
the}' had formerly been under the rule of Great Britain. 
A meeting of the representatives of the government 
and of the Six Nations was held at Fort Stanwix where 
the matter was discussed. Red Jacket, a famous 
Indian orator and a rival of both Brant and Cornplaii- 
ter, in an eloquent speech opposed such an arrange- 
ment; but Cornplanter clearly foreseeing the folly of 
striving longer in arms against the Americans, urged 
the Indians to accept the best terms they could get and 
be content to live in peace. It was finally agreed that 
the Iroquois should occupy certain large tracts of land, 
all of which must lie east of a north and south line 
running through Buffalo. This treaty caused great 
dissatisfaction among the Indians, and Red Jacket 
took this opportunity to draw much of Cornplanter' s 
influence to himself. The latter was rewarded, as wdll 
appear later, by the gift of a tract of land on the 
Alleghany river in Pennsylvania, which was to belong 
to him and his heirs forever. At the outbreak of the 
war the English commi.ssion had promised, no matter 



EVENTS SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION 113 

what the outcome of the war might be, to furnish the 
Mohawks with as valuable hunting grounds as they 
then possessed. At the close of the war Brant urged their 
claims upon the British government and was offered a 
large tract of land north of Lake Ontario, but the 
Mohawks did not wish to be removed so far from their 
confederates, the Senecas, who urged them to settle on 
their lands within New York. But inasmuch as they 
had cast their fortunes with the English, Brant pre- 
ferred to have his people live on British soil; so he 
succeeded in getting the grant changed to a location 
nearer the Senecas. They finalh^ settled on a tract of 
land ''six miles on each side of the river, from the 
mouth to its source," viz: the Ouise or Grand River, 
flowing into Lake -Erie on the north about 40 miles 
from the Falls of Niagara. 

Brant at once began to work for the moral and intel- 
lectual uplifting of his people. He encouraged the 
w^ork of the missionaries and caused portions of the 
New Testament to be translated and printed in the 
Mohawk language. 

At his death he w^as succeeded by his son John who 
with his warriors aided the British in the war of 1812. 

We will close this chapter by quoting from the his- 
torian Lossing. "From time to time after 1785 the 
State and individuals piocured lands from the 
Indians by cession or by purchase. The Tuscaroras 
and Oneidas first parted with some of their territories 
in 1785. In 1788 both the Oneidas and the Ononda- 
gas disposed of all their lands excepting some reserva- 
tions, and in 1789 the Cayugas ceded all their lands to 
the State, excepting a reservation near Cayuga Lake. 
In each case the right of free hunting and fishing in 
all the counties was reserved." 

"The Senecas parted with most of their territory in 
1795. The same year the Mohawks, most of whom 



lU THE IROQUOIS 

fled to Cauada at the close of the war, relinquished all 
their lands to the State for a consideration. So late as 
1819 there were about 5,000 of the Six Nations in the 
State, in possession, in eleven reservations, of two 
hundred and seventy-one thousand acres of land. In 
1838 these lands had been disposed of, nearly all the 
titles extinguished, and the Indian population had 
removed westward across the Mississippi River. Such 
was the fnial act in the drama of the once powerful 
barbarian republic in the State of New York — the great 
Iroquois League. It has disappeared from the face of 
the earth and entered the realm of past history. 

A few, however, of the different clans remain to 
preserve the cu.^toms and traditions of their fathers. 
Hemmed in on all sides by the aggressive and grasping 
Anglo Saxon, they sigh for the departed glory of the 
days before the white man touched these shores, when 
their rule extended from the lordl}- Hudson to the 
Mississippi, and from the rushing St. Lawrence to the 
peaceful Carolinas. When we contemplate how quickly 
this great division of the human family have lost the 
most beautiful land upon which the sun smiles, how 
the ploughshare of the invader tu:ns up the bones of 
their forefathers, their customs and traditions despised, 
and themselves outcasts and wanderers among a strange 
people, we are led to exclaim, "Lo the poor Indian!" 



CHAPTER XX. 

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SIX NATIONS 

The following account of the present condition of the 
Six Nations is taken largely from the Official Census of 
1 900 . 

SAINT REGIS INDIANS 

The Saint Regis Indians are the successors of the 
ancient Mohawks, and their reservation is' situated in 
both St. Lawrenie and Franklin counties. They own 
about 15,000 acres, the greater part of which could 
easily be made into productive farming land. Some 
parts are exceptionally fertile and nearly all is well 
watered. The entire reservation is level or slight 1}^ 
roUhig. The timber has been nearly all cut avva}' for 
fuel. The roads are very poor, in many parts being 
little more than trails. The Saint Regis Indians also 
occup}' a large tract in Canada, as many, or more, 
living on English soil as in New York. Three-fourths 
of the entire tribe are Roman Catholics. They have a 
pleasant little church, capable of seating 600 people, 
just across the line on the Canadian border. The 
Methodists have built a church for the Protestant 
Indians at a cost of $2,000. The Conference sends a 
regularly ordained preacher who is supported by the 
Missionary' Society. 

Among the Indians that have united with the 
churches may be found many who are as true to their 
professions of Christianity as are their white neigh- 
bors who have had many more opportunities for relig- 
ious culture. They are less quarrelsome than many 
Indians, and are generous, consideiing the means at 
their disposal. Intemperance has a strong hold upon 



116 THE IROQUOIS 

many, and especiall}" upon those who are able to wield 
considerable influence. They are known for the purity 
of their home life, a condition brought about by the 
teachings and influence of Christianity. New York 
maintains 5 separate schools for the education of the 
children at an annual expense of perhaps $1,500. The 
cost of the school buildings was about $1,400. The 
younger generations easily acquire the rudiments of 
English, but there their education usually stops. The 
one great drawback in intellectual development is the 
lack of ability to think and speak in English. One 
writer has said: "It keeps down the comprehension 
of ideas, which cannot find expression through the 
Indian vocabulary, and it is simply impossible for the 
Indian either to appreciate his condition and needs or 
make substantial progress until he is compelled by 
necessity to make habitual use of English. ' ' 

THE ONE I DAS 

It will be recalled that the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras 
under the influence of that great and good missionary, 
Mr. Kirkland, threw in their lot with the Patriots 
during the Revolution, and it would be suppos- 
ed that they, after having been so long in 
sympathy with the civilization of the whites, would 
have conformed more rapidly to new conditions which 
grew up after the close of that long and sanguinary 
strife. But such has not been the case. In 1785 the 
Tuscaroras united with the Oneidas in selling a large 
portion of their lands to the State of New York. The 
tribe kept making treaties with the State and selling 
more and more of their lands until in 1846 they had 
but 350 acres left. About this time the greater part of 
the nation emigrated to Wisconsin leaving a small 
remnant to hold the land in severalty. There is some- 
thing pathetic in the thought of these red friends of 
our forefathers being obliged to see their once happy 



THE OXEIDAS 117 

hunting grounds gradually occupied by the usurping 
pale face until they were finally compelled to leave the 
scenes of their youth, and the groves of their fore- 
fathers by the very people whom they had befriended, 
and seek new homes far toward the setting sun. 

Besides a few scattered families there are two small 
clusters of houses, one at Orchard near the village of 
Oneida, and another at Windfall in Madison county. 
The census of 1890 showed that the children attended 
no school, and attendance at church was onl}' occasion- 
al. The most of them do not till the little land they 
pretend to own. Much of it is occupied by white 
people. The Indians work some, by the day, but 
spend most of their time at such work as basket weav- 
ing, or idling about. They are peaceable and some 
are assimilating with their white neighbors and slowly 
taking on the manners cf civilization. Studying over 
the present condition of the Oneidas, we were forcibly 
reminded of the speech of one of their number, ''before 
long there won' t be any of us left. ' ' 

THE ONONDAGAS 

The Onondaga reservation lies in the county of the 
same name, and is about five miles south of the cit}" of 
Syracuse. The Indians own about 6ioo acres, at least 
three-fourths of which could be made highly fertile. 
Underneath the reservation lies a bed of limestone 
which is quarried for building purposes, and brings in 
some revenue to the tribe. The greater portion of the 
farming land is tilled by the whites, some of whom 
rent of the Indians under sanction of the State. They 
pay a fair rental which keeps some of the tribe from 
want. The government is in the hands of twenty- 
seven chiefs, nearly all of whom belong to the pagan 
party, and are elected as in olden times by the females 
of the families represented. In the constitution of 
1882 provision was made for a president, judges, clerk, 



118 THE IROQUUiS 

treasurer, marshal, school trustee aud other officers. 
Laws respecting wills, dowers, the settlement of es- 
tates and marriage were made to conform more to those 
of the State of New York. 

There are two churches on the reservation, the 
Protestant Episcopal, and the Methodist. While the 
number of communicants in each is small, yet the 
buildings are commodious and would be ornaments to 
any village. The pastors are earnest and do a good 
work among the few who profess Christianity. The 
non-christian, or Pagan party, hold their religious rites 
at the council house of the nation. 

If all jealousies and rivalries between the Christian 
societies could be eliminated, they would wneld a great- 
er influence over the Pagan party and eventually might 
be the means of bringing the tribe to a much higher 
state of civilization. 

The State has provided one school for the Onondaga 
nation which is held in a building that cost $500. 
This is centrally located and should be attended by all 
the children of school age on that reservation. A few\ 
and they are usually the children of Christian Indians, 
attend regularly, but the greater number are indiffer- 
ent to education. 

TUSCARORA RESERVATION 

This nation occupies a tract of land of about 6200 
acres situated in Niagara county five miles from Sus- 
pension Bridge. This is one of the best cultivated 
tracts of all the land owned by the Six Nations. The 
chiefs compel every land owner to maintain a fence at 
least four feet high. The larger part of the land is 
w^atered with pure springs. The Indians generally 
till their own land, except those who are physically 
unable to do manual labor. These lease their farms 
and live upon the rentals. There are many apple and 



TH E SKN KOAS A XD TOXAWANDA^ 1 19 

peach orchards, and the raising of fruit is a source of 
considerable profit. 

Government among the Tuscaroras is administered 
much as it is among the Onondagas, vacancies among 
the chiefs being filled b}- tlie women of the clans. 
There are a president, clerk, treasurer, etc.; besides a 
large number of sachems and chiefs. The laws are 
fe\v and the people are orderly and peaceable. 

The Presbyterians and Baptists both maintain 
churches each of which has a good Sunday school, 
good singing, and a fairly intelligent audience. 
There is also a Ladies' Aid vSociety in connection with 
the church. 

There are two schools among the Tuscaroras each 
presided over by competent teachers. The buildings 
have attractive surroundings, but the attendance is 
very small. 

THE SEXKCAS 

The Seneca Indians are settled on live different re- 
servations. The Tonawanda, Allegany, Oil Spring, 
Cornplanter and Cattarauni-. 

TONAWANDA 

The Tonawanda reservation embraces about 6,500 
acres of land l3'ing partly in each of the counties of 
Erie, Genesee and Niagara. The roads are poor, and 
the fences are not well kept up. But little over half 
of the reservation is cultivated and much of this by 
white people. A great deal of the timber has been 
w^asted, but there is enough for a few years to come. 

There are three church buildings: the Baptist, built 
of, brick at a cost of $3,600, has a membership of forty 
or fifty. The church members are the proud possess- 
ors of a good organ. The Presbyterian church, cost- 
ing $2,500, is not as large as the first named, nor is it 
as influential; w^hile the Methodist is the smallest of 
the three, but perhaps not less active. There are three 



120 THE IROQUOIS 

schools mentioned for the education of these Indians, 
but little if any more interest is shown in books than 
by the other Indian nations. By an act of the State 
Legislature money was set aside to erect and equip a 
large school for manual training. A farm, teams and 
implements were provided, but through indifference 
and mismanagement the whole scheme was dropped 
and the buildings allowed to go to decay. 

The Tonawanda Senecas are governed by thirty-four 
chiefs elected by the women. The executive officers 
are elected by a vote of the people. 

ALLEGANY 

The Allegany reservation lies in Cattaraugus county 
and contains over 30,000 acres, of which not much 
more than 5,000 acres are either under cultivation or 
used for pasturage. The soil on the uplands is very 
poor, and the lowlands are subject to floods. A great 
deal of the land is covered with second growth timber, 
the former h^avy growth having been cut and rafted 
down the river. 

All Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations are both 
governed by a constitution which provides for the 
-election of a council of sixteen members. There is a 
president who has the casting vote in case of tie, fills 
vacancies till the next election, and recommends nec- 
essary measures to the council. Also provides for a 
peacemaker's court elected for three years, which has 
jurisdiction in all matters relating to wills, estates, 
real estate and divorces. A clerk, treasurer and mar- 
shals are also provided for. 

The Presbyterians have one church on this large 
reservation costing $1500. There are about one hun- 
dred members, some of whom labor zealously for the 
conversion of their tribe. The Baptists have a very 
small society. The State provides for six schools all 
of which are indifferentl}' attended. 



CATTARAUGUS 121 

OIL SPRING 
The Oil Spring reservation contains a small tract of 
640 acres. It lies in both Cattaraugus and Allegany 
■counties. 

CORNPLANTER 

The Coruplanter reservation lies on both sides of the 
Alleghany river in Warren county, Pa. It contains 
nearly 700 acres and is owned by the heirs of the fa- 
mous chief, Cornplanter. In religious matters these 
Indians are closely associated with those of the Alle- 
gany reservation. The Presbyterians have a small, 
but well built church with a membership of about 
forty. They own a church organ and have a good 
Sunday school. 

CATTARAUGUS 

This reservation lies in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua 
and Erie counties, and contains over 21,000 acres of 
fertile land mostly in the valley formed by Cattaraugus 
Creek. The land is well watered and capable of pro- 
ducing large crops. Wood for fuel is scarce, but there 
are indications of the presence of natural gas which 
may in the future take the place of that article. The 
roads are very poor, 'tho some efforts are occasional!}^ 
made to improve them. 

In selecting this spot for their permanent homes, 
the Senecas exercised good judgment. There are three 
religious denominations on the reservation. The Meth- 
odists have a church which cost nearly §2,000; the 
Presbyterians have a larger building costing about 
$2,500; while the Baptist church cost but $1,500. In 
this as on all the reservations, the Indians pay but 
little toward the support of the gospel, the greater part 
of the expenses being paid by some of the organizations 
of the different churches. 

Perhaps the Cattaraugus schools are among the best, 
if not the best of all the Indian schools. There are 



122 THE IROQUOIS 

ten in number, part of them in charge of experienced 
teachers. In 1855 Mr. Thomas founded a school 
which is now known as "The Thomas Orphan Asy- 
hnn." It has come directly under the control of the 
State. It has a productive farm, a good boarding 
home, and hospital, thus making it an ideal home for 
the orphan children of the Six Nations. There are 
regular hours for study, recreation and work, and the 
children are guided by sympathetic and affectionate 
teachers. The Indian boys and girls display excellent 
musical talent, and many of them have become really 
proficient in the common branches, and in ph3'siology, 
history and drawing. This school clearly demon- 
strates what might be done to raise the Indian to a 
higher intellectual plane when he is surrounded by the 
advantages and opportunities for growth which the 
more fortunate whites enjoy. 













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